


What If I

by Roxyblues



Category: Final Fantasy VII, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-15
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-05-23 18:33:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 31,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14939639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roxyblues/pseuds/Roxyblues
Summary: A Royal, a Rebel, and a single goal in mind. Who's to say both of them will get what they want? In a school filled with deceitful and shocking characters, none of this should have been a surprise





	1. Royal, Meet Rebel

Chapter 1: Royal, meet Rebel

 

The lone wolf sat alone by itself with no pack to call of its own. For as far as it was aware, it was always that way. It, itself, and just...them. Isolated by all, but desired by one.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Everyone has at least one problem, Sora was sure of that. Some more severe than others, some less. That’s why he always preferred to know someone first before judging them. That was his number one rule. From the openness of his personality, he had received countless friends and acquaintances over the years. It had gained him connections, and close friendships that would never die down, however, there was a time when he had to break his own rule. But the brunette had good reasons not to bother getting to know one particular person. Someone he had wished he never bothered wanting to get to know.

-x-x-x-x-

Three blocks away from Destiny High, a brunette traveled down the neatly paved sidewalks humming the tune of the music blasting through the his earbuds stuck in his ears. Cinnamon brown spikes bobbed as he walked; his messenger bag slung comfortably over his shoulder containing all his necessary supplies for his third year. He had heard previously from his good friend, Riku, to expect a heavier workload, which he didn’t take too happily. Sora sighed, frowning deeply as he raised his arms up to cross and rest behind his head. Despite hearing the very devastating news for the rising junior, he hoped he could make the beginning of school more pleasurable for the first few weeks. He even thought that wearing his special day uniform would heighten his mood. He wore his favorite crisp white V-neck Polo shirt tucked into his dark navy blue knee high khakis. He also wore his favorite pair of bright yellow sneakers and a few accessories to match.

Sora smiled to himself as he walked, pulling out his earbuds as he arrived at the grand school. A thin pink bracelet dangled around his wrist, symbolizing a promise he had made a while back to his dear friend Kairi. Besides this, he had a very important accessory that was more important than a mere bracelet. A token that made him who he was.

“Sora!”

Said teen turned catching a flash of red before yelping and nearly falling to the ground. “Kairiiiii!” Sora whined trying to pry the squealing girl away, the effort was fruitless since she latched herself tightly around his waist. At this point, he had only made it halfway to Destiny High’s front entrance before being physically assaulted by one of his close friends.

“C-Come on Kairi! I just saw you yesterday, and you’re star- ACK!!.” 

“Oh stop that. We were only together the day before in celebration of our third year of high school.” The redhead giggled as Sora struggled in her arms in a headlock, preventing him from saying more.

“St...Stop K-Kairi… I c-can’t breathe.” The two continued to go on like this, but neither of them noticed the silent footsteps coming behind them.

“You can stop that now. We don’t want our prince dying on our first day back.”

A silveret grinned then dropped his heavy shoulder bag on the girl’s head, consequently forcing her to release the captive prince.

“OW! What the hell, Riku?!” Kairi shouted, rubbing the abused part of her head while Riku smiled down at her innocently.

“Thanks, Ri, I owe you one.” Sora sighed in relief massaging off the slight pain and coaxing the blood to flow back to his head.

The relieved prince smiled and laughed as he watched his two best friends go at it. Kairi trying to kick the other down to her size whilst Riku evaded her every attack and teased her. The brunet couldn’t help but be amused as he watched them. He had been with them ever since they were young, but neither of them really changed much since the time all three of them met. Sora could honestly say that he was glad that they were still together after so many years, and he hoped it would stay like that for the years to come.

Having enough of their foolishness, Sora called for them to stop. “Let’s go. I don’t want to listen to you two squawk at each other anymore.” 

Sora continued on towards the school with Riku and Kairi in tow. He greeted and high-fived everyone he knew or didn’t. He already noticed that the number of people he didn’t know versus the many he did was steadily increasing, which was to be expected since almost everyone knew of him.

Once passing through the doors, Sora inhaled the smell of a fresh start of the new school year. Like every year, the halls were clean and smelled of harsh good-smelling cleaning products, the marble floors waxed, and the hall of trophies dusted and shined. To complement the big school, it had a large foyer that opened up to many of the school offices. The walls were lined with trophies, plaques, and pictures of the many school departments; there were three staircases that went up into the second floor and separated to the West and East wing of the school. Further in the back was where all the arts and sports resided as all the other classes and departments were scattered about. Everyone inside was either chatting excitedly or telling stories of what happened during their summer break. Everything was calm and normal as far as Sora could see, but he was glad.

But for how long, he didn’t know.

Sora had climbed the steps and had become too engrossed in his fascination with the school that he didn’t notice Riku nudging him until he received a hard smack to the back of the head. “Wake up, your audience is waiting...”

“Huh? Oh…” Finally registering that there was a large group of students staring and waiting for Sora at the bottom of the stair cases. A nervous trickle went down his spine, but three years of this taught the brunet how to calm his nerves.

He gazed around the mass of students, then carefully made his way back down. Most of them smiling up or down at him in respect. Sora flashed a few with his famous thousand watt smile as he walked past the large group. He received a few hollers, some girls blushed and giggled when the prince met their eyes. He could tell that he was truly loved, and all his efforts from the precious years were really paying off. In all honesty, Sora felt it was a little unsettling how nearly half of the whole student body looked up to him. But then again, it was somewhat heart warming being surrounded by his supporters, and two of his best friends as his good subordinates.

This was them. The people that he grew up with ever since kindergarten to high school. These were his closest friends, his allies, his helpers, his manpower, and so, so much more. They are who contributed to making the brunette who he was today. Making him into their proud leader.

Sora quickly brushed away the invisible tears at the corner of his eyes. Riku elbowed Sora’s side seeing that he often got emotional over things like this. The teary prince smiled proudly then raised a fist to the air. A symbol meaning not only their trademark greeting, but the unity of them as a whole.

“Who are we?!” The cheerful brunette shouted at the top of his lungs to the mass of students; his words echoing through the vast halls of the school.

“DESTINY HIGH ROYALS!!” Said thunderous cry of a thousand replied.

“WHAT DO WE DO?!”

“SHINE, HONOR, and WIN!!” 

There was a collective cheer from the students as they clapped and whistled. For Sora, this all in itself was a privilege to be the Prince of the Destiny High Royals. Just seeing people with smiles on their faces and sharing a common good feeling felt worth it. Everyone looked generally happy, until, one particular student shouted the one name that sent the rest into a rage driven frenzy.

“This year we’re going to destroy the Rebels!!” One of the royal’s voices called loud enough over the others. Almost instantly, every Royal that has previous issues, or had horrible memories that dealt with the enemy voices escalated. All ranting angrily, or already making out plans of what they plan to do as payback for their mishaps.

Sora could only frown and stared down at his group. On one hand, he was glad that they all share the same hatred towards the other group, but on the other hand he didn’t want to cause a conflict so early in the year. The prince sighed deeply shaking his head then motioned for Kairi that stood to his left to quiet them down. By “quieting down”, that meant a loud piercing whistle that resignated in even down the halls.

Remarkably, everyone shimmered down or jolted to attention coming to almost complete silence. Anyone seeing that for the first time would have been astonished or impressed on how one person had so much influence.

“Now, everyone,” Sora started looking through his many supporters to be sure he had their attention. “You and I -as your prince- both know this is not why we returned here today.”

“But my prince! Have you already forgotten what the Reb-”

“I already know that!” Sora shouted cutting off whoever dared to interrupt him. His voice becoming serious and heavy. He closed his eyes then took in another deep breath pushing back the memories of last year. Kairi’s comforting hand rubbed at his back soothing away any harsh memories that remained.

“No matter… no matter how hard they may hit us, verbally, mentally, or physically. They can never touch us. We are bigger than them. We are the stars of this high school. I am with you… as you are with me.” Sora paused. “For that I deeply appreciate you all. Even you, Kairi and Riku.” He turned and smiled as his dear friends did the same obviously touched. “But as long as we’re here they can never reach our level. They will never experience our greatness as we’ll never stoop down to their lowness.”

Sora straightened up squaring his shoulders and holding his head high. “So, if you all would kindly remind me. Who are we?”

“Destiny Hi-”

“What?! I can’t hear you!” The prince smiled wide as he leaned his ear towards the crowd.

“DESTINY HIGH ROYALS!!”

“And what do we DO?”

“Shine…Honor… and Win, right?” A loud clear voice rang out above all causing all else to stop and a few cringe before their cue.

All the royals on the floor turned to the entrance and spotted the source. Immediately, tension ran high as another group of students filled in the school. Scowls and glares were aimed at one another; each ready to pounce if the either made the wrong move. But from the throng of students, one particular teen stood out from the rest. Sora tensed when he heard that person’s voice and wasn’t at all pleased to see who it belonged to. He could recognize it miles away since he had many undesired chances to know it very well. A heated glare was set on his features as his cobalt blue eyes met with eyes seemingly identical to his own, but the other held sharpness and judgment that would cause anyone’s nerves unease.

“Such a lovely speech, Sora. You always know what to say to move even my ‘cold, dead heart’.” The teen snickered. “Isn’t that the same one you’ve said for the past three years?” A slender blonde haired teen questioned moving away from his group and towards Sora where he stood on the center staircase. 

“I like to remind my people of our goals so they don’t fall short.” Sora replied, his voice even and low but all seriousness and power like the leader that he was. The Royal prince watched the blonde saunter into his group, his supporters automatically parting to make way for his personal enemy. The brunette prepared to say their traditional greetings; a silly rule made up long ago at which had to be said whenever two princes met.

“Roxas Lockhart…” The Royal prince held his head higher as Roxas, whom was currently known as Destiny High’s Prince of the Rebels, came to where he stood with a sly smile on his face.

“Sora Fair… looking as sexy as ever.” The Rebel prince smirked digging his hands into the back pockets of his black denim skinny jeans. “Seems like you are just as excited to start the new school year together… you and I.”

Sora’s lip twitched but he refrained from spitting on Roxas’ face. His disgust for the other was quickly rising but hidden well thanks to the multiple encounters he had with the Rebel prince.

“There won’t be any ‘you and I’ business that you may have hoped for this year. Only protocol, you stay with your devious group, and I with my respectable supporters.”

“Devious?” Roxas repeated with a little gasp, mock hurt expressed on his face. “Sora, Sora… me and my lovely group are everything but. We are simply something special that you and your posse will never be.”

“Ha!” Sora rolled his eyes. His lips curved into a smile. “You and your group are special alright. In the mental department that is.” He chuckled. Riku and Kairi following suit then later the small laughter of the royals that surrounded them.

Roxas stood firm and unaffected by the jab. He was used to insults far worse than this, so his little comment was nothing but a flea bite. Instead, he laughed along with them as for his gang who leered and scowled at the royals who dared to make fun of their prince.

“You have gotten better with your pitiful little jokes, Sora. Maybe you’ll get to Axel’s level in twenty or so years.” It was the blonde’s turn to laugh. His hand went up to fiddle with the necklace around his neck. It was a shiver chain with a unique styled X on the center, similar to Sora’s but his was in the shape of a crown. It was the item that marked Roxas as the leader of his group. Looking at it brought back a bitter memory for the brunet, but the subtle weight of his own reminded him of the exchange.

Sora’s brows knitted together in annoyance that nearly anything negative he said to Roxas, he found amusing instead of offensive. It was one of the many things about the blonde that irked him. For him, it felt like the other lacked any feeling bone in his body. Thought it was not only him, but he had somehow gotten most of his group to become unfeeling robots. Anything done or said to them gone to the wind.

Just this was very unsettling for the royal prince.

“Well, now that we’re through with being friendly, how about we start to set things straight.” The blonde’s smirk fell as he stepped a bit closer to Sora. The prince instinctively stepping back, but Riku reflexively stepping forward; ready to intervene when he had to.

“Riku, it’s fine. I can handle him.” Sora commanded as he said this still keeping his eyes on his foe. The silveret accordingly stepped off to the side but kept his eyes on him. Roxas, of course, found it amusing.

“Aw, it’s cute that you trained your little puppy well, but I plan to do something this year that I hope you and your little band of idiots don’t screw up.” Roxas crossed his arms leaning towards the brunet.

“And what kind of idiotic proposal do you have in mind this time?” Sora muttered low enough for only Roxas to hear.

“How about this,” Roxas moved to his ear. He didn’t have to lean down or up since they were actually the same height. But he was sure to keep his distance, for he knew how Sora had felt about him making the smallest skin contact. “Neither of us want trouble this year, and you and I have a lot on our plates as it is.” Sora knew that much, but trouble was something that was unavoidable. “There is something that I want that you have.” Roxas withdrew a little from Sora to look him in the eye.

Sora stared back at him slightly confused but held his glare. “And what, pray tell, would that be?” The brunette’s tanned hand was already around his crowned necklace.

“You know I don’t want that.” The blonde motioned towards the necklace.

“Then what?”

“Something no one else was able to attain.”

“Stop with your mind games and just tell me.”

“Then it would be too easy, and it would be out of my grasp before I even made the effort.”

“Then it mustn’t be that important if you know you’ll lose it.”

“Oh, it is important. Something so important that it’s something I always wanted since the moment we met.” 

Sora narrowed his eyes at the deep blue irises. “Whatever it is, I’ll make sure you’ll never have it.”

“Oh, I’ll make sure I will. Whether you like it or not.” Roxas’ eyes shimmered at the challenge and was about to open his mouth to say more but the morning bell beat him to it.

Students started to disperse to their homeroom classes, but a few remained in curiosity of the private conversation between the princes.

“Hm… looks like we’ll have to continue this later…” The Rebel prince trailed off glancing at his two subordinates behind the brunet. They shared a quiet, tense moment, but he didn’t keep eye contact for too long or else they would have figured out his next move. 

“I hope we never will…” Sora bit back turning to leave the rebel and head on his way to class. He already had enough of the insufferable blonde; however, most things didn’t end in a way Sora called ‘pleasant’.

The Royal prince only made it two yards away with Kairi and Riku on either side of him before being roughly grabbed by the forearm and spun around almost causing him to trip. His eyes widened in surprise, but it was already too late for him to react to what happened next.

Foreign soft lips smashed against his own with such force he was sure his teeth rattled. His heart surged in panic, but his body didn’t obey his demand to move away. It had happened so quickly that his body was still in shock. At first, he couldn’t quite register who he was kissing, but he did notice the odd numbing feeling that came from it. He felt it from his lips all the way to the tip of his fingers and toes. As if it was a silent wave that numbed his senses. However, it didn’t stay. It was gone in an instant. By the time his mind saw the blue optics that stared right back, so close and knowing, Sora’s heart sank and precisely knew who kissed him. 

Muscles finally working with his mind, Sora placed his hands on the blonde’s chest pushing him as hard as he could away from him. The Rebel prince laughed and dodged away just when Riku lunged for him.

“You fucking-!” Riku swore falling back when Axel, one of the blonde’s best subordinates, intercepted him.

“See you later, beautiful blue.” Roxas winked and sauntered off with his followers following close behind.

Sora stared after the Rebel prince until he disappeared in the cluster of students. His heart was thudding hard in his chest, and his cheeks colored a fiery red. He vigorously wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand muttering angrily as he did so; his skin prickly all over.

“Sora, are you alright?” Kairi rushed over to him and touched his shoulder and cheek lightly. The brunette slapped her hand away and proceeded onwards to class. 

“I’m fine.”

“You sure? You really looked li-”

“I SAID I’M FINE!” The prince shouted stunning the redhead into silence and caused a few curious glances. 

“S-Sorry.” It was a rare for Sora to actually yell at his friends, but he just had to make sure to apologize later for it. Like many other times, both of his best friends knew he hadn’t done things like that intentionally.

Riku came beside her patting her shoulder. “Leave him alone for now. You should know he gets like this when that jackass pulls those kinds of stunts.” Sora heard the silveret as he said this, but decided to shut off the rest of their conversation in his mind.

He was ashamed of himself for blowing up on Kairi, and in front of his supporters. But he was most shameful with himself for letting something like that stupid kiss get the best of him.

-x-x-x-x-

For the most part of the day, Sora ignored and kept to himself. It was especially horrible since he hadn’t planned his first day back to be ruined like this. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get the fact that Roxas, the most disgusting, obnoxious, self-centered, manwhore, kissed him. He was glad for once that he hadn’t taken his first kiss, or he would be forced to remember who had taken it whenever people asked him. He could still feel the cool ghost of his lips, which made his skin crawl to no end. He damned himself for actually getting lost in the kiss and feeling so, lost.

Riku and Kairi bothered him no further, and most of his supporters could tell he wasn’t in the best spirits. His mood only got worse when he heard or spotted the Rebel prince around the area. Multiple times Sora had to fend off the offending blonde. He was absolutely suffocating for the brunet, and even Sora himself couldn’t figure out he was able to tolerate him. 

When the time came for lunch, Sora was a little gladdened because he would have something, other than complicated math and English to keep him preoccupied. 

The Royal prince sat at his usual table. It was a table that was particularly larger than the rest on one side of the cafeteria. Dead center of the cafeteria, there was a single aisle that divided the cafeteria into two parts. One side for the Royals, and the other for the Rebels. The Rebel’s side also had a large table; both used as means of only ones that of high status, and/or those who requested a special audience with their prince. But in reality, there were tables that teachers usually ate their lunch but would later be taken by students. Not only that, they were also used for one-on-one meetings between their majesties when it came to serious problems between the two groups. 

Those times Sora least enjoyed.

The prince silently ate his lunch as Kairi and Riku chatted excitedly about their new assigned classes. He joined their conversation once or twice, but mostly kept to himself as he absently created mushy mountains and canyons in his mashed potatoes.

It had taken him a while to notice the constant tingling feeling at the back of his neck. He pulled himself out of his dreamlike consciousness and looked about the large cafeteria to find whoever was staring at him.

It didn’t take him long to spot who it was, for it was the first set of deep blue eyes he wish he hadn’t laid eyes on.

Roxas Lockhart sat on the other side of the aisle; elbows propped on the table and hands folded across his lips. Sora didn’t know how long he may have stayed in that position staring at him, but it was certainly unnerving.

Sora scowled at the blonde, obviously annoyed at being stared at. Said blonde grinned behind his hands and gave a wink in Sora’s direction. Revolted, the royal prince sat up straighter gripping his spork, glaring at Roxas dead on.

“Fuck… you…” Sora breathed under his breath. He ignored the slightly shocked glances from his two friends but had hoped they knew he wasn’t directing the comment towards them.

Roxas heard his silent words despite the loudness of the room -or more or less read his lips- because he slowly lowered his hands and folded them neatly on the table. For a moment, Sora was slightly surprised that he could pretend to be so proper even for his improper attitude. The blonde leaned forward as if trying to get closer, then mouthed ‘How hard and how?’

Sora recoiled in his seat as if his simple words slapped him across the face. His response had only made his snarl deepen, and red rise to his cheeks like before. Not only was his character repulsive, but also his mannerisms.

The Rebel prince chuckled at his reaction then turned his attention from the Royal regarding him no further. To Sora, this pissed him off immensely and he dearly wanted to ring Roxas’ pale neck. The brunette growled angrily and tore his gaze away from Roxas and resumed to staring at his food.

Roxas Lockhart 

The source and reason of most disruption in Sora’s school life. The only person he had wished he never took the time to get to know.

.  
.  
.

-hides under the bed- How was it? I hope you liked it. Just to let you know, constructive criticism is very welcome. I want to develop this story as it grows into something greater. Your help makes a difference.

If you have any more questions, message me on my personal tumblr account or here.

Until next time,

-Roxy


	2. The Rebel Prince

  Chapter 2: The Rebel Prince

 

_The cold pup stands alone. The green boy wants to befriend all. Little that they both knew that once they met, how attached the blond wolf would become._

-x-x-x-x-x-

 

Lockhart stared up at the slow spinning ceiling fan for what felt like an hour ever since he’d woken up. He had awoken about half past three; a bad habit he had created for himself long ago. No matter the array of drugs that he had taken, he always –somehow- managed to wake up at his old regular time in the middle of the night.

He continued to lay in his bed wide awake, limbs spread out as if he was on display. His chest bare and his trademark accessory lying coolly around his neck. The prince idly played with it between his fingers, his mind clouded and pained from recent dreams. Dreams that haunted him with no resolve. Dreams that forced him to dream of the day they would disappear. But they never would; he knew that. Because _he_ didn’t forgive him then, so why would he now?

“Hm…” The Rebel sighed closing his eyes briefly letting himself completely relax on his bed. The moment only lasted until the alarm on his phone went off alerting him that it was time for him to get his ass up. Literally.

Apparently, his best friend, Axel, had taken it upon himself to take his phone and make himself a recording. As the redhead had put it, ‘Listening to his charming voice of sweet awakening’ but Roxas could disagree.

He could recall the day when his phone miraculously disappeared from his backpack, but later found out that his idiotic subordinate borrowed it and refused to give it back without a quick “trade”. Once he looked over his phone, Roxas wasn’t surprised to find countless nudes, which were most likely taken in the school’s Boys bathroom, all over his phone. He wasn’t sure why Axel he had the audacity to especially save a crude one as his screensaver. But again, that was to be expected from him. Roxas was just glad that Xion wasn’t the same way. If she was, she would have been as secretly as notorious as Kairi, Sora’s left hand.

It took a while for the blond to realize that he was in bed longer than he intended. However, he was glad for once that his _“father”_ hadn’t come in and decided to give him a very rude awakening.

The prince quietly slid out of his bed and leisurely took his time taking a shower then getting dressed, putting on his favorite old pair of faded grey ripped jeans, and plain black V-neck shirt. He added his other much needed accessories and fixed his appearance before heading downstairs for breakfast.

“Morning.” Roxas called coming around the corner hearing activity in the kitchen. He guessed it was his _“mother’s”_ day off today since it wasn’t often that he had breakfast made for him.

“You’re up later than usual.” Another blond replied with his back turned away from Roxas. A tiny German shepherd was waiting patiently at their feet.

“Should I miss out on your amazing cooking Cloud?” Upon seeing Roxas walk in, the puppy perked up and padded its way over to the teenager, completely abandoning the thought of food.

“Hey, Radar.” Roxas smiled and knelt down to nuzzle his nose against his snout. Cloud turned smiling down at the both of them, particularly Roxas.

“Right, you and I both know that’s not the reason.” At first glance, anyone would have thought that they had a striking resemblance, but with closer inspection, they would have seen that both have very different features.

Roxas’ attention drifted back to Radar staring down at his puppy face, but that didn’t stop his cheeks turning a light shade of pink. “You’re taking this mind reading thing too far. Leon is lucky he doesn't have to deal with that aspect of you.”

“Don’t pull my name in your conversations.”

As if on cue, said man walked into the kitchen as well giving equal glares to both blonds.

“Good morning to you too, grumpy.” Cloud chuckled moving away from the stove to properly greet him. Without any regard for Roxas being in the room, the two adults exchanged quick kisses completely ignoring Roxas gagging close by.

“Come on,” He whined, “It is too early in the morning for this.”

“Well if you’ve been dealing with it for five years, then I’m sure you can deal with it now.” Leon muttered after stepping away from his husband.

“...What I get for being adopted by a gay couple.” Roxas murmured lowly.

“Says the gay boy.” Cloud countered slapping the back of Roxas’ head. 

Roxas laughed and quieted down as he took his plate finally serving himself some breakfast. He sat down at the kitchen table eating his fresh stack of pancakes and hash browns. But he had almost choked when he received a hard hit to his head.

“Ow!” He whipped around and glared at his assailant. “What the hell, Squall?! Are you trying to give me a concussion?!” The Rebel prince shouted rubbing the abused spot on his head. He attempted to return the favor by aiming for his side, but Leon’s quick reflexes stopped him before he could land the blow.

“One, I’ve already told you multiple times not to call me that.” He narrowed his eyes at the struggling blond under his grip.

“But that’s what Cloud calls you when you guys think I’m not around.” Roxas smirked finding another opening but unfortunately was blocked once again.

“Two,” Leon took the opportunity to strike a quick jap behind his head. “You have an appointment with your therapist. Today. And you _WILL_ go this time. Don’t even think of weaseling your way out of this one.”

The blond’s brows furrowed, but he finally ripped himself from Leon’s grip. “I already told _you_ that I don’t need to go. It’s a problem that does not need to be fixed. I got it under _control_.”

“Six guys a week is not under control.” Cloud cut in.

“Wha-?”

“That’s what Leon says when you think no one is around watching.” The older countered using a bit of Roxas’ own words.

In response, Roxas turned a shade of pink, a little shocked that Leon thought he had the right to look into his business. Even though he technically did to a degree. But Roxas himself couldn’t stop him from doing so. He was not only his guardian, but he had every right to for more reasons than one.

“I think it should be in your best interests to quit trying not to go. You’re going whether you like it or not.” Leon strictly ordered then paused for a moment, adding an afterthought. “And don’t think I won’t use my squad on you. Your record is already bad enough.”

Roxas looked away from them, instead staring down at his plate of food that had started to cool. “I know…thanks for the damn reminder...”

There was a pregnant moment of silence that fell among the three. Radar quietly panting at Roxas’ feet staring at his untouched food. It was no secret what he was notorious for. That part didn’t bother him at the slightest; however, it was a good punch to the gut when he knew that almost everything he does now counts so much and he has such little time left.

At some point, Cloud sighed and came around to Roxas and placed a hand at his shoulders, but the attempt was fruitless since the prince shook it off. He hadn’t seen Cloud give Leon a look that he had gone too far, and he’d have to apologize later. Leon shook his head then moved across the room, mussing Roxas’ hair as he did so, leaving the two blonds by themselves. As soon as Leon left the room, Cloud took his seat beside Roxas.

“Don’t worry about it, Rox…. you will have plenty of time.” Cloud hummed quietly clasping and unclasping the Rebel’s shoulder.

“I only need one more…. then I will be sent back to serve the rest.”

“Even so,” The elder withdrew his hand. “Don’t let something like that get in your way. You have plenty of time to fix what happened between you two, so take this year or the next to finally get to-”

“What if he doesn't’ want to? What do I do then?” Roxas interjected. “He probably won’t allow me a single word. He never will.”

“Try harder.”

“What do you think I’ve been doing?! I already told you how he is and he obviously seems to not want to hear any of it. Plus, he still kinda hates me.”

“Try something else. It’s only a matter of time before he listens.”

“If only it were that easy...”

The younger blond got up from his abandoned meal and made to get ready to head out for school.

“I’m going.” But before Roxas could leave, Cloud caught him by surprise when he grabbed him and spun him around, shoving a granola bar in his mouth.

“Don’t go without some food in you. If you keel over, that won’t be on me.” The older of the two laughed as Roxas coughed.

“Yeah, yeah. Thanks “mom”, I know how to take care of myself.” He rolled his eyes and stepped out the door.

“Not well enough it seems. And for the love of all that is holy, try not to get into any trouble.”

“Cloud,” Roxas paused at the door and gave him one last look. “I may be in charge of these so-called ‘ruffians’ everyone so speaks of, but that doesn’t exactly mean that I am involved with their individual messes. Trust me, they’re worse than myself, but I know how to handle them.” Leaving it at that, Roxas hopped off the front porch and set off to school with a predetermined agenda in mind.

-x-x-x-x-

“Report.”

“It seems as though Drake Wolfram has been causing trouble for himself with a few Royals.”

“Explain.”

“We have been notified by our own and a few outsiders that had witnessed Drake’s provoking the Royals ever since the start of the year.” Piped in a short clear blue-eyes girl.

“Have there already been rumors of the situation?”

“Yes. Apparently, Drake has been harassing these Royals before classes had started,” began a tall redhead, who was holding a small tin lighter in one hand as he spoke.

“An outsider has claimed to have seen Drake seeming to have an affair with one of them; a female,” the girl followed.

“An offense.”

“But not one uncommon.” Both subordinates nodded at this turning to their leader, watching him twiddle his necklace between his fingers. They noted this to be one of his newest subconscious habits.

The Rebel prince sighed lightly, not really surprised by the given situation. It was not even a whole month and already one of his followers was causing trouble. However, that is somewhat expected from them. Having been in charge of them for six years, it was something Roxas had learned and recognized as part of the Rebel nature. Though there were few things even Rebels could not do that were considered ‘breach of protocol’. Such offense includes secret associating with the opposing group.

“So, what are you going to do?” Xion questioned.

“Banish him perhaps. That is what I’d do.”

“What you _would have_ done.” Xion stressed with her hands on her hips.

“Oh, I forgot. It’s been years.” Axel sighed with a slight smile on his face. The look of old nostalgia and yearning on his face.

“And you still won’t tell me why.”

“Neither have I told Roxas.”

“And you both know _I_ can not decide on this yet.” Roxas spoke up moving away from their meeting spot which was always under the same oak tree on the school’s front courtyard. “There is _that_ person that I have to talk to as well.”

“I’m sure he already knows about the situation.”

Roxas rolled his eyes. “Or not. He’d most likely hear it from his loyal bitch at late notice.”

“Or his trusty angelic devil.” Axel said with a smirk.

Xion couldn’t help but frown at that. “You give him too much credit.”

“Why not? He certainly does look after his little pup.”

“You know, I’m starting to think there is something between you two.”

“Guys…” Roxas had to stop the two before he developed a migraine. Their conversations were almost non-stop, barely a break of silence between their replies. “I’m just going to talk to Sora and you’ll be there on standby as per usual. But in the meantime,” Roxas and his duo passed the school doors but stopped short at the massive foyer. Immediately, all three friends spotted the Royal leader and his underlings. 

The Royal trio registered them as well and shared a short moment of intense silence and glares. Both broke contact as soon as a school admin walked by giving the Rebels suspicious glances, but the Royal prince a friendly pat on the shoulder.

Axel scoffed at the gesture and Xion snorted in return, turning away and noting the big grin on Roxas’ lips as he locked eyes with Sora.

“Rox?”

“In the meantime,” Roxas continued keeping his eyes on the brunet who had also yet to break away. “Xion, keep tabs on Drake. Make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid for now.”

“Of course.”

“Axel, confront his friends and keep a close eye on any Royals that try to seek him out.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Roxas laughed a little but rolled his eyes as he dismissed both his subordinates going their separate ways. But the blond didn’t forget to blow a kiss to the vexed Royal prince.

-x-x-x-x-

Roxas stood outside room 410 with a small sheet of paper in hand including all his belongings slung over his shoulder. On the paper was a note addressed to his new math teacher and his new updated class schedule. He was glad that his previous math instructor allowed him to leave early and head over to grab his new course syllabus. That, and he would have a more likely chance to meet up with the person he had been looking for all day.

The blond straightened up as soon as the end of fourth-period bell rang. Students came flooding out of the classrooms and into the main hall, congesting it in a matter of seconds. Roxas managed to slip into his new class and quietly spotted the instructor on his desk neatly putting away rumpled stacks of lined paper. Most likely work he had assigned to his students as a small quiz or test of their understanding.

“Instructor Linke?” Roxas called; the said man looked up at the mention of his name.

“Yes? Can I help you?” He regarded Roxas with his full attention and showed no hint of weariness or unease. This made the blond smile.

‘He must be new to the school.’ He thought as he walked over to his desk and handed him the note and schedule.

Normally, most teachers knew of the blond and would almost always assume that he was up to something that involved them. However, Roxas was glad for once that Mr. Linke wasn’t a teacher that he had to suck up to or have to give him his ‘services’ to get something out of him.

“Ah, so you are the student that is being transferred.” Mr. Linke smiled a bit then went for his drawer to dish out a neat course syllabus for Roxas. “Be prepared to work hard in here Roxas Lockhart, and welcome to my class. We’ll discuss the upcoming assignment tomorrow.” He handed Roxas the small packet and shook his hand.

“Thank you, Sir.” He let go of his hand but wasn’t all that concerned about his new class. The blond was already good at math, so there was nothing he had to worry about. The only worry in his mind right now was looking for a certain brunet. 

Just at that moment, a loud bang sounded in the class. Startled, Roxas glanced in the direction it had come from which was the back of the room. The first thing that he saw was the familiar backpack-shoulder bag on a chair, its strap gripped by tanned hands. Eventually, the Rebel prince saw who the bag belonged to, a huge grin coming to his face.

Speak of the devil.

“Oh… didn’t notice you there, Sora.” His pack and posture straightened. One hand holding the strap and the other on his cocked hip. “You seem a little shocked to see me.”

Sora stared at him silently. “No… not at all.” Sora Fair muttered but he was loud enough to hear over the soft chatter of the other students. “I just didn’t expect to see you _here_.”

In other words, he had hoped for me not to have found him here. Typical.

Roxas took advantage of the moment and swaggered his way over to him. His little group of people unknown to the blond -most likely admirers- exchanged glances and greetings as he walked by, wandering away to give both the princes their time to talk.

“Well, you will be seeing me more often in here now.”

“So I’ve heard moments ago.” Sora growled, securing his bag over his shoulder then made to leave.

“Aw, is the Royal prince upset because I joined his math class?” Roxas cooed following close behind.

“Seething.” The brunet spat and failed miserably trying to ignore the other.

They made it out of the classroom but Roxas decided to stick with Sora since they were heading in the same direction. Lunch.

“You know what we’re discussing today?”

“How could I not? I have to thank one of your idiots for forcing me to have this ridiculous meeting with you.”

“It is not as bad as it sounds, and you know it. Roxas said giving his usual cocky grin and even dared to wrap an arm around his waist. “You may never know, it may actually be fun this time!”

Sora grunted in disapproval and wedged his arm between the two and pushed the blond away with disgust. “You disgusting, lewd _Tyrant_.”

_Lewd Tyrant_? That’s new.

“Why don’t you keep your hands everywhere else except me!” Fair hissed as he went through one of the large double door entrances to the cafeteria. Roxas stopped by the door and watched the other go with a smug look on his face.

A sudden vibration in his back pocket stopped the Rebel prince from reaching the door. He quickly fished it out and looked to see that he had received a text message. He flipped his phone open and studied the foreign number in his inbox. He then clicked the message open and read its contents.

**[TEXT] From: 1-704-XXXX**

**Received: 11:43 AM**

**Still good 4 2day?**

Roxas stared at the message for a few moments. His features still and calculating. He only took his eyes off his phone to see if anyone else was watching him before typing in his reply.

**[TEXT] To: 1-704-XXXX**

**From: Me**

**Sent: 11:47AM**

**Change of plans. Rendezvous after school in boys locker room BEFORE soccer practice.**

**DON’T BE LATE**

Snapping his phone shut, Roxas stared blankly at the small light up screen until it timed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I welcome constructive criticism, or give me your thoughts and feelings in the reviews!


	3. Long Day

Chapter 3: Long Day

The blond wolf looked cautiously at his new friends; eyes staring up to the silver moon.

An unhealthy relationship between the two was inevitable.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Sora stared out the window of Riku's red convertible, the hood drawn up and the sound of the engine producing the softest of purrs. The brunet was tempted to fall asleep in his seat, but he didn't want to be rudely awakened by the driver. It would have been a risk he didn't mind taking if it wasn't for the fact that the silveret was such a scary and reckless driver, or when he threatened the boy with his life, playfully of course, if Sora could call it that.

His mind was far away, floating in the drift between fatigue and concerns of current events. He was mainly tired since the day had took out more from him than he had expected, and for the many times he found himself mingling with his followers. However, most of his concerns were with the already problematic issues that gave him more headaches, including the biggest forming headache of them all. Roxas Lockhart.

'Damn him...' Sora thought, his features turning to a grimace.

The prince had not noticed when his friend was trying to get his attention until the car jerked sharply to the right, causing Sora to painfully headbang into the glass.

"God damn, Riku!" His heart almost flew out of his chest and he rubbed at the sore spot on his temple. "What the hell?!" Sora turned to Riku, not appreciating the smug grin on his face. "Do you want to give me a concussion?"

"Well I thought I was having nice idle chat with you, but then I realized that you were half asleep when I was halfway through." Riku replied, obviously not regretting his decision. "Besides," The car gradually decelerated as he pulled into a familiar street. The vehicle eventually stopped in front of a grand house that was one of the many in the wealthy neighborhood they called home. They had stopped in front of Sora's house.

"Sora, are you alright?" The silveret leaned back in his seat turning off the engine. "You are too quiet. Something the matter?" Teal eyes looking onto blue.

The Royal prince turned away, not wanting Riku's knowing eyes to see exactly how 'upset' he was. Instead, he favored to look out the passenger window and stare out to his forlorn home.

During and after the many years that Sora had known Riku, the younger knew that his best friend had the unusual knack of knowing when his friends were upset, especially Sora. He was most always able to call Sora out on his lies and worries but did so in a way that was discreet. However, Sora knew that his friend was only looking out for him in a way that he always wanted a close friend to. But at times, it could be a little disturbing.

He was reluctant for a moment, but he knew that if he kept silent that Riku would suspect something more and start asking questions.

"I'm just… really tired and worn out from today." He muttered, sighing quietly.

"Is that all? You're just...tired?" He could hear the skepticism in his voice. Anything that Sora said at this point with his refusal to make eye contact would make everything he said at this point virtually a lie.

"Well…" The prince began, somewhat racking his brain on what to say.

He didn't want to tell Riku everything that happened. Such as the awful discovery that the bastard Rebel prince had joined one his classes, which was a first, and if Riku had known that, he was sure that Riku would go through all lengths to have more pairs of unnecessary eyes on him. So, he told him the partial truth.

"I'm just exhausted… and a little upset about the meeting." Sora had taken his attention away from the window and looked down at his hands hanging slightly from his legs.

"I figured you'd be upset about that." Riku said low, obviously buying what Sora had said. "The Rebels are always causing trouble for us, so it is no surprise that you had to get involved."

The brunet was relieved that his friend had settled with this half-truth, but he continued to egg on his concerns of the matter even though, to him, it was somewhat minute.

"But it is not just that Riku. I'm worried about my people. I'm losing them as we go. My supporters look up to me for a good decision of dealing with the rival group but-"

"Losing a few people does not change anything too much. We get rid of them for good reason and they become outsiders like usual." Riku shrugged, probably not seeing this as a big problem. "Sora, look at us. We have more people than those idiots. We measure so much more than they ever dreamed to. That is...if they ever did."

"But they are the ones with more eyes, ears, and even more tactics to make everything we do appear flawed. That bothers me Riku. And now with the issue of… uh.. Will-... whatever his face, it is obvious that they know more than we do, and I am certain they have more people on their side than we know."

Riku seemed to have weighed Sora's concerns, and the brunet inwardly sighed in relief that he was able to distract him from his true thoughts. It was rare that this happened, but he knew he was starting to get better at lying. He could only keep the secret of the Lockhart boy under wraps for so long.

"Then we have to find a way to play their game." Riku remarked after a few moments of silence. "Figure out what they're gonna do before they do it. Simple as that." He shrugged.

"Ha, yeah," Sora rolled his eyes and slung his bag over his shoulder. "If only it were that simple." He pushed the passenger door open and stepped out of the car. "We'll talk about it later."

"Via text?"

"Don't matter to me." The brunet muttered wanting to end the conversation. However, he didn't get the luxury when his wrist was suddenly gripped by the silveret. Sora could help to not do anything but groan.

"Sora, wait…"

"What is it now Riku?

"Well, um…"

The prince turned to his best friend with the look of agitation on his face. "What is it?" He questioned looking him dead in the eye, Riku's cool fingers staying latched around his wrist.

They stayed like that for a moment that felt like a full ten minutes to the prince. To Sora, he could see that Riku wanted to say something more by the way his eyes shifted and the invisible thoughts that reeled in his mind. But the silveret came forth with nothing and this was perplexing to Sora.

"Riku...?"

"Um… nevermind. I'll see ya later." He let go of Sora's hand and closed the passenger door behind him. Whatever thought that had preoccupied his mind; gone.

"...Right."

Riku hadn't left until Sora had reached his house and unlocked the door. The brunet listened until he could hear the shred of the tires on the asphalt. When he could no longer hear the car roll away, Sora exhaled deeply and dropped his backpack on the floor. The quiet stillness of everything inside the house was welcoming. There was no tension, no quarrels, no extra burden to take care of. Just… silence. It was nice and securing. Truthfully speaking, he preferred it more than going out there with his friends.

If only its silence wasn't as deafening as his current truth.

The prince left his bag and headed straight to the kitchen. The kitchen, like the rest of the house, was quite large. It was open and divided itself from the forlorn dining room with a hooked peninsula. The counters covered in earth-toned marble and brown cabinets to accent the flakes of brown on the counter. A long black island in the middle of the kitchen to match the other black and silver appliances. Everything in order. Everything immaculate like he had left it.

On his way in, Sora hadn't expected to find a small note lying on the island. He had almost missed it but when he noted the recognizable small handwriting and flowery print, he knew exactly who it was from. His mother, Aerith. He snatched up the small memo and skimmed over the message, it being short and undoubtedly sweet.

He sighed, frowning deep as he balled up the paper in hand and threw it unceremoniously in the trash. He hadn't given any thought to what his mother had written. It was always the same greeting, the same questions of 'How is school so far?' and 'Are you taking care of yourself?'. It was nothing new. It never was.

The brunet decided to busy himself with making some dinner. He would often immerse himself in the task and sometimes forget whatever else happened around him. Such as now, he hadn't noticed when someone had entered the kitchen until he felt an air of annoyance and obnoxiousness that made him scowl. It could only be one person and the only person that irritated him so.

"You know, I think your face would look a hell of a lot better if you kept it that way." The opening and slamming of the fridge door annoyed Sora whilst he prepared his food.

The knowledge of this person's presence was a hindrance to Sora. In fact, her whole being, and just who she was a huge annoyance to the brunet at the moment. He had hoped that he would have more alone time before she had come home.

"You see, no one asked for your input." Sora mimicked two octaves higher to mimic her tone.

"You're just mad because I'm right."

"Why are you even here?" His tone raised.

"Uh, I live here too and I'm starving? Why else would we share the same parents and share the same space?"

"I didn't ask you for your dumb remarks. Why are you here?" Sora had not time for his sister's smartassery. Just the fact that they talked this long was starting to flare up his anger.

She turned. Her bright blue eyes glaring at the prince. Her sharper and smaller face that reminded the brunet of his mother, and straight ebony hair of that of her father. The same full lips and large eyes. Unfortunately, sharing similar traits to her older brother. Xion Fair.

Xion rolled her eyes at him, one of her brother's water bottles stuck between her lips. "My business here is no concern of yours."

"Sure as hell is." He crossed his arms.

"And who told you that? Dad? Mom? You must really enjoy being the tyrant."

"A tyrant?" I am not! I-"

"Oh shut your hole!" Xion growled glaring at him with uniform disgust. Sora was well familiar with it. "Who do you think you are? Let me tell you something," She came up and stood close to Sora, a finely filed nail pointing to his chest. "Keep it at the school, kay? I don't need your self-righteous, controlling habits getting in my business."

The prince could feel his nerves twitching in fury. There were times when Sora had wished that he could have a normal conversation with his sister without things escalating like they do, and quickly too. His sister's ungratefulness was fraying at his resolve and souring their relationship, as if they had one. He couldn't fathom where down the line things had changed between them. But just trying to talk things out has become a no-go for either of them and they've kept it that way. As for keeping things in line, the prince had taken up the task of cleaning after his sister's messes. It was just how things were now and Xion seemed to not care in the matter.

But Sora wasn't having it. Not like this.

"I am your older brother. I should be up to date with your activities and looking after you!" For all the brunet knew, he was trying to be the better example of the two. "And I don't control, I keep things in order unlike you and your shit for brains leader! Or should I say 'friend'?" Sora retorted slapping her hand away, moving aside. "Maybe if you even dared to understand, you might see what I'm doing for you."

Her cheeks flamed red, taking the insult to her friend personally. "You… you got nothing on Roxas! And what exactly have you been doing for me?! You're all talk and not enough action! As far as I know, all you've been teaching me is how to hide behind a mask and suck my thumb when no one is looking! Maybe Roxas should take care of me instead! That way I don't have to deal with you! "

"Great! One less person to worry about in this dysfunctional family!"

If he had turned to see how hard Xion was clenching her bottle and gritting her teeth, he would have known how sharp his words cut deep. She had moved away from the kitchen and headed to the door. Her 'shit-for-brains' friend waiting outside. But she was sure not to leave without getting the last word as she usually did.

"This family wouldn't be so messed up if you hadn't been asking questions..."

The prince listened as the door slammed, and once again, silence enveloped the whole house. The brunet sighed for what might have been the millionth time, pinching the bridge of his nose, his appetite completely gone.

This was going to be a long school year…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think! Leave a thought or review. I always reply ;)


	4. Better Out Than In

Chapter 4: Better Out than In

The softest touch of the small fairy's hand calms the tiniest of howls of the blond wolf’s cries.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Roxas yawned once, then twice. And then those were followed by a number of times. He couldn’t fight the grimace on his face. His lower back hurt and his shoulders and neck were dotted with bruises. None got better since he woke up in an awkward position. The blond had almost considered not coming to school for his stiffness, but he decided against it and the day was sure to be treacherous.

He tried to massage his shoulder and neck wishing that Axel was here to knead away the kinks and aches, but he had already told him and Xion he would meet up with them at another time other than outside the school as usual. However, the reason was one that they knew beforehand. Today was one of those days that he could spend time with one person in particular. Someone outside of the world he knows, and needs not to worry of harsh opinion, Naminé.

The prince came about the school gates and spotted her immediately under one of the oak trees on the school grounds. She was easy to spot, well for Roxas she was. One of the many things that he liked about her was her uncanny ability to move like a ghost. Even for as long as he knew her, which was about seven to eight years now, she sometimes managed to get under his radar. Sometimes it was unsettling when she popped up at unexpected times. Still, her presence was oddly nostalgic, and one Lockhart looked forward to.

Roxas went up to her seeing that she was in her usual all-white attire, which added to her ghostly tendency and appearance, reading volumes of books that Roxas could never hope to accomplish. She quickly glanced up, smiled, and closed her book. Roxas returned the gesture, taking his place beside her against the tree.

“It’s been a while… Roxas” Naminé greeted, her voice small, sweet, and innocent.

“Hey, Nam. I’ve been wondering what you’ve been up to since I didn’t see you last week. Where have you been hiding?”

Her pale hand came to her mouth, covering the little giggle that escaped. “Not exactly ‘hiding’…”

“Avoiding?”

“Ah-um… not… avoiding.”

The Rebel chuckled and took a seat beside her on the soft grass. “You know I’m just teasing.” He smiled relaxing beside the tree, exhaling contently. It was only times like these when the blond could really be at ease. Each of those times while being with Naminé. Strangely, there was an air about her that soothed him; he could never figure out why.

“...I see that you’ve been busy…” Naminé had turned to Roxas staring at his exposed neck.

“Oh.” His hand had been absently rubbing the sore areas and hadn’t realized until now. “I guess I have…” The prince muttered suddenly becoming very self-conscious of them, that being very strange for him since he never would be until she’d point them out.

“It would be nice… if you’d stop doing that.” She suggested, her words barely above a whisper. “I think a lot of things would be easier for you.” She looked down at her book, her fingers idly stroking its leather cover. The book she had been reading titled _The Diary of a Nobody._

The prince couldn’t help the small bit of guilt as he looked at her. He had always seemed to find himself like this whenever Naminé disapproved of anything both of them knew was wrong. She obviously had good reason to; however, her good reasons weren’t always enough to ‘suade him. Rarely, anyone else’s.

“You sound like Cloud now. He tells me the same things but adds more of an iron fist.” He grinned trying to escalate his mood. “I’m sorry but both of us know it won’t be easy. I’m too far along and it’ll take more than words to be done with it.”

“Will _he_ make it easier to be done with it?”

“Maybe. But I can’t make promises with him involved, which makes it a lot harder.”

He got up and groaned as he stretched, then picked up his bag from the cool ground. Lockhart was almost taken aback when Naminé quickly stood after him, looking him hard with pale blue eyes.

“I’m serious, Roxas…”

He blinked back and had to force himself to look away. This was the first time that he had ever seen Naminé show such an emotion. He had to turn his gaze for it was startling for him and shown the dead faces of his years before.

Putting up his front, Roxas put on his usual smile and patted Naminé’s platinum blond hair. “I know your concern and I hear you, but…” Roxas sighed. “I can’t promise you anything right now.” The Rebel prince dismissed, briefly touching her thin shoulder and walked off leaving her at the tree.

He could still feel her eyes on him as he walked. He knew he shouldn’t have left it where he had, but he didn’t have the time to discuss his problems with her right now. Also, he hadn’t known up until now how she felt of the whole situation involving him and others. He had to remember to keep away from her before things got more complicated than they already were.

“Still hanging around that Outsider* I see. Are you sure you two are not dating?”

The blond sighed through his nose and rolled his eyes. _Of course, Axel was watching me with her._

“She seemed to have a great deal of influence on you. More influence than I have with you. Honestly, that makes me sort of jealous.” A small pout set on the tall redhead. He had stationed himself by the school entrance having been watching them since the moment Roxas arrived.

“No, Axel, we are not dating. You know I don’t date girls.” The prince rolled his eyes pushing his way past the redhead, entering the school. The tall teen following close behind.

“But you always seem to be so close or buddy-buddy with that Outsider.”

“You could consider us friends, but that is as far as the relationship goes. Nothing more. Besides, best that she is part of the outside.”

“And why you say that?”

_Because I don’t want her to get mixed up with my messes more than she is now_. “Because it’s better that way, Axel.” He stressed, becoming impatient with him and his prying questions.

“Shouldn’t there be something you should be doing?” The prince questioned. “Don’t you hang out with that blue haired guy? What’s his name?”

“Oh him. Unfortunately, he is not here today to distract me from you.”

Roxas could hear the purr in his voice as he edged closer and placed a hand around his hip opposite of him. In such proximity, Roxas nearly stumbled, but he didn't push Axel away like a normal person would.

“Would you kindly find your entertainment somewhere else?” The Rebel didn’t feel like today was the appropriate day to be pestered by his obnoxious friend.

“Well, this is abnormal. You actually asked me to stop being a nuisance to you. You are changing, Roxas. Are you sure you are not on your cycle?”

The blond decided to forcibly push the redhead away from him, irritated and losing his nerve. “Oh fuck off. Go burn a dumpster or something.” He grumbled walking away.

Axel came around and forced the blond to a stop and stood in front of him, causing him to look up at him. “That’s what I thought.” He grinned bending down to briefly brush his lips against the blond’s. His eyes locked on vibrant green and he didn’t kiss back.

His subordinate left his side promptly as he was told, laughing all the while. The headache he would constantly receive from Axel was a recurring reminder of the question of why he even bothers putting up with that idiot. But the answer was not too bad when he remembered they were friends.

As far as Roxas was concerned, Axel had his own agenda. And whatever job you set up for him he would do it in his own time, unless he had a special incentive. Mainly in Roxas’ part that made him want to deal with him a lot less. This was why he relied on his counterpart, Xion, to be the added cushion he needed whenever the redhead became a little too much for him.

Roxas made a mental note to buy her more of her favorite energy drinks as a much needed thank you.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The day was going by faster than the Rebel prince expected. He had succeeded in having one less thing blow up in his face in Chemistry, slept through his whole English lesson, breezed through World history, and now he was leaning back in his chair with a completed math practice quiz on his desk.

In fact, the blond had finished so quickly that his professor had thought he had cheated. But really, Roxas really just excelled in math better than all his other subjects, and he did make honorable work. Thinking back, Roxas could remember how often Axel would tease him for being such a math brainiac, but he was the same guy to ask what question two was. He laughed to himself at the thought, but he never took shame for his admiration of mathematical problems and situations.

Many times Naminé had tried to push him into becoming part of math clubs or joining Academic Scholars programs to get somewhere with his skills. Although the prince felt that such things weren’t necessary. It was actually not the problem of keeping an image in his group. His members could care less what he did academically or physically. It was more of the slight fear of moving too far. Yes, there were the many advantages of scholarships, recognition, and grants. But he knew if he acted on those opportunities, he wouldn’t be where he wanted to be at this point.

As of now, doing what he’s doing is as easy as breathing, but it had its own risks with his goals.

Without much to do, Roxas took his work sheet and ripped it in half, writing a small note then folding it for safekeeping. With Sora sitting in front of him, much to his own discretion, he willed away his temptation to fool with him while he worked on his quiz. He settled for staring at the back of his head and all he could see. He was knowledgeable of the effect of his starring on the Royal prince, for apparently, Sora felt when he was being stared at.

Twelve more minutes went by before Mr. Linke called time to hand in the quizzes, Sora having finished last. Roxas smirked watching him go but saw the evident scowl on his face when he returned.

“Did you think you did well?” He asked trying to be polite. Though it seemed that the smile on his face said something else to Sora.

“I don’t need your idle chatter right now, Lockhart. And judging by how quickly you finished, I would have said you didn’t even try.” The Royal quietly snapped in the midst of the classroom’s soft chatter.

Oh, but I did. “We’ll see once we get our paper’s back.” The blond snickered then picked up the folded note from before and presented it in front of Sora’s face. “Someone told me to give this to you.”

The brunet eyed the paper and Roxas, obviously suspicious of anything the Rebel provided. He snatched the paper from his fingers and turned to sit properly in his desk, unfolding the paper.

A moment gone by, then Roxas tried not to laugh to hard when he could see the skin of Sora’s neck and ears turn a dark shade of red. Said prince hissed a considerable number of curses under his breath as he jerked his shirt down.

“I wanted to tell you earlier, but it was such an interesting color.” Roxas was surprised with himself that he was able to speak soberly despite his laugh.

“You know,” Sora whirled around to glare at the Rebel. “If you are going to act like a child, why don’t you do that when you get back to Elementary school?”

“News check, we’re still in grade school. Everyone here still acts like a child.”

“You are a child!” Sora hissed, not realizing that he was louder than the class that commenced without them.

“Fair, Lockhart!”

Both teens turned to the professor as he stared down at them from the front of the class. Some students were quietly snickering at the princes’ normal bickering, but for them it seemed like this was going to be a normal occurrence for them now. A pleasure for Roxas, a horror for Sora.

“I hope you two are getting along back there.”

“We were going along just fine.” The mischievous prince sat back with a gentle smile on his face. “Yes, don’t worry. Just friendly banter, I assure you.”

“Don’t put words in my mouth!” Sora quietly hissed, but it went ignored.

“Good, because I’m pairing the both of you for the year’s math projects. And you can only change partners at the end of the first semester.”

Roxas knew that he didn’t have to look at Sora’s face to see the look of utter disbelief and dread. For the Rebel, this was his opportune moment that might as well make things much, much easier for him.

“This… can’t be happening.” The Royal prince muttered, running his hands tiredly over his face.”

“Best believe it, Sora. We’re going to be stuck together for half the year.” He sat back on his chair with the big smug grin on his face. “You may never know, we might grow to like each other this time.”

-x-x-x-x-x-

“I’ll cheer for you when I see you in the field.”

“R-Really?! Thank you, Sora! Seeing you there will definitely boost my confidence! See you at the competition!”

Sora smiled and waved as he watched one of his close followers jog away to meet up with his friend by the football field. He watched him chat with his friends excitedly, telling them of his news before walking off to most likely catch their ride home.

It wasn’t all the time, but most times Sora would participate in anything his fellow supporters were engaged in. It was his way of showing that he was considerate of other’s wishes and willing to give support at their request. For one, it didn’t feel like a duty that he had to do for others, but it felt good just to be a small crutch to someone’s drive. But it wasn’t just for the people that supported him, it was the school too. Whenever Sora had the time, he would set up school events and try to bring pep into games, competitions, and show appreciation for school faculty. Because of that he had gained much respect and gratitude and people ended up loving him. That he didn’t mind, and he was just happy to do. One could call it an act of chivalry.

But then again there was the opposite group, the Rebel group, that didn’t take everything what the Royals did in positive consideration. Rarely did Sora see that the Rebels weren’t doing something to cause mischief. For school events, there was at least one thing wrong that was caused by the Rebel’s, and it was always a pain to try to fix it, especially when Roxas Lockhart wasn’t cooperative. Anything that went wrong with Sora’s plans to do for the school was because of the Rebels, and it added to the list of things he hated of them. Most of them directed to their awful leader.

The brunet sighed heavily and turned, ridding his thoughts of the obnoxious group. He headed down to the boy’s locker room then checked his phone for messages.

Riku had texted him earlier to meet him at the boy’s locker room once he finished football practice. At this time, he was almost done so meeting his best friend there was the best option even though Sora detested the idea. Besides, he would have gotten in trouble for lingering in the corridor after school hours, but he had no choice even with how much he didn’t like the smell of being in the locker room since there were a lot of guys that had a horrible case of B.O.

He grumbled and prepared himself as he pushed open the door. The smell wasn’t so bad, but the surprising cleanliness was a plus. The Royal was glad that the windows were cracked open and he felt alone in his skin.

But he soon found out that he wasn’t exactly alone. Not long after he opened the door, he heard a muffled yelp followed by a swear.

“... Hello?” Sora tentatively said. “Whoever is here, are you alright?” The prince called but was answered with what sounded to be frantic whispering.

He waited a moment, listening carefully and was about to step forward when he heard the door in the far corner of the room open and close. Whoever was present moments ago had left. Confused, the prince eventually dismissed the strange occurrence and made his way to the benches opposite of the lockers. He thought while he was there he would do Riku the favor and pack up his things. Although, for the third time today, things just did not seem to be going in his favor. Around the corner, he found the open person he had dreaded acknowledging since the beginning.

“Yo.” Lockhart grinned, him and his smile upside down as he laid on the bench.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…” Sora groaned pinching the bridge of his nose. “It always has to be you...of all people.”

“Maybe it’s destiny.” The blond purred, but Sora opted to ignore him and commence his original intentions. he dialed the combination of Riku’s lock and began pulling out his things.

He could feel the brief prickle of his skin. He knew then that Roxas was staring at him in his inverted position but made a point to ignore him. That increasingly became hard when it persisted.

“Hey...”

A shuffle of movement and suddenly Sora had jumped not having noticed that the Rebel had moved to stand right next to him. “Can you not?” Fair glared at the grinning blond.

“What? Is my presence disturbing you?” His brow raised, not seeing how his sudden proximity disturbed him. 

“Yes it is. Now will you move?”

“We haven’t been together for more than two minute and you already can’t stand me.” Roxas feigned hurt and ignored Sora’s nasty expressions. “Maybe I just wanted to have some friendly chatter with my-”

“What do you want, Lockhart?” He snapped the locker door shut and fully regarded him.

Sora knew what Roxas was trying to do. From knowing him since they were children, the brunet learned to read the usage of his words and how he stressed them. Unfortunately, mainly due to his desire to avoid him at all costs, he wasn’t able to read his body language and still lacked the understanding of his intentions. For Sora, Roxas was still a thousand piece puzzle that he could never be bothered to piece together. He damned his horrible lack of luck, but for now he was stuck with him for half the school year. He had only hoped that the Rebel prince wouldn’t make it worse for him.

He could see that Roxas was gazing at him with unusual interest, again, making him feel like he wasn’t alone in his skin. “I only had a question. An innocent one.”

Sora rolled his eyes. “Make it quick then.” The brunet could feel the impatience growing inside him.

“When was the last time you kissed a girl?”

Suddenly Roxas had thrown him a curveball. Kissed a girl? “Uh… weeks? Months ago? I don’t quite rememb-.... is this relevant to anything?!” Sora snapped almost feeling stupid for actually considering his question. This wasn’t actually something he would concern himself with telling the blond, neither did Roxas had any business of knowing.

“It is completely relevant… for me. Any pets?”

“And why is that?” He tested, growing wearisome.

“It’s just more information. I want to learn of my beautiful blue.” He grinned.

“Look.” The Royal turned away disgusted hoping that the stupid smile on his face would grow into a split lip. “If there is some game you are trying to pull and I find out about it lat-”

“No games.” Roxas interrupted. “Just small questions. If we are going to be math partners, then shouldn’t I take the incentive to try to get to know my partner better. Not getting along will only make things harder for the both of us.”

As much as Sora hated to admit, at that note. If he was going to work with the blond, he might as well try to get along with him even though he didn’t desire to. Despite everything they had went through in the past, maybe it was time to actually try.

It had only taken a second for Sora to realize the situation and position he was in. Within moments, he found his back pressed to the lockers and Roxas no less than a hand’s length away. In the midst of his thinking, he hadn’t noticed how close Roxas had moved and his pale arms caged him in place. A flicker of panic ran through him, but he was sure not to reveal his small moment of distress.

“I believe… you are in my personal space, Lockhart.” The good prince remarked sternly. “Please move.”

“This is the first time you ever said ‘please’ to me. Tell me, since you don’t remember the last time you kissed a girl, when was the last time you kissed a boy?”

Heat rose to the Royal’s cheeks, a quick memory of the first day of school replayed in his head. “Please move.” Sora repeated a little louder, his heart starting to thud in his chest. He did not like where this was going.

“Oh, so you have.” Roxas’ smile hadn’t left and he continue to ignore his request, frustrating him even further. “Have you done anything suggestive before?”

Fair knew that the blush on his face must have reached his neck and ears. His mouth gaped slightly in astonishment that Roxas would even ask such a question. “I-I don’t have to answer that to you!” He shouted, damning himself for his small stutter. Though he could see that that must have meant more to the blond, who didn’t seem to miss any details.

Roxas had held his silence, looking at the Royal with almost a blank stare. Then slowly did his features change into an unusual smile that Sora could not read. He could see the new shine in his eyes and his smirk widened to one like a cheshire cat. The brunet was almost certain of what whirled through his mind. He shrank back, and Roxas moved forward. Like a cat interested in his new prey.

“You know, I actually didn’t expect the War Horses to accept our game proposal!”

“Haha, I expected their snotty asses to go for lower game just to get more wins.”

“That doesn’t matter because we’re going to cream them.”

The sudden voices that flooded the room caused Sora to jump. Among them he heard Riku. If he had found him and Roxas together like they were, it would be very bad. More for Roxas that is.

Reflectivity, Sora tried to call out but Roxas had already seen through what he was about to do. 

“Mmph!” Before Sora knew it, Roxas had smashed his lips against the unsuspecting brunet. The suddenness brought him to shock, must like the time when he had done it the first day of classes, and it took some time for his mind to catch up with his body. He struggled, or at least tried to. But he quickly realized that the Rebel was stronger than he looked. His heart hammered in his chest and his eternal struggle became more frantic as the voice moved closer. Every sound he tried to make was stifled when Roxas forced his tongue into his mouth. The blush on his cheeks bringing impossible heat, and mixed emotions stirring with disgust and unmistakable excitement. The thought of being caught sent a regrettable chill to his core.

With the strength that was left where his limbs and morale had failed him, Sora did the best thing anyone would have done with someone’s tongue shoved down their throat. Sora’s teeth locked the slick muscle in place, and he bit down, hard.

He felt Roxas flinch, but he didn’t let go so soon. Not until he tasted the familiar taste of iron did he let go.

The Royal glared hard at the blond before him, whom now had stepped back taking note of the damage done to him. Sora had found himself gasping lightly but he was glad that he was able to stand on his own two feet. However, the realization of him not being able to support himself didn’t deter him more than the huge smile on the Rebel’s blood-tinted lips.

So quickly, Roxas backed away and exited through the back entrance in long and quick strides. Fair believed that he left more satisfied than he planned.

“Oh Sora, have you been waiting here long?”

The prince failed to respond to his best friend and silently moved aside to give him way to his locker.

“Hey… you alright? Your face and your lips are red. Sora.”

Again, he hadn’t dared to answer the silveret. He couldn’t quite comprehend what he was saying or if he was talking for that matter. Only two thoughts occupied his mind, and they stuck to him like a bad thorn in his side.

Unintentionally, he had broken one of the ten established laws. One that would change everything that he worked for if anyone found out. And the second being the pronounced memory of the distinct bitter taste in his mouth that has yet to mix away since Roxas had first kissed him moments ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Outsider: Someone who is neither in the Royal or Rebel group or supports it. Does not care or prefers not to be identified with a group.
> 
> Tell me what you think! What are your thoughts? Which direction do you think this story is going? Reviews and constructive criticism is always welcomed.
> 
> Until next time,
> 
> -R


	5. Personal Rehabilitation

Chapter 5: Personal Rehabilitation

"The hunger gnaws at you," says the fae. "They say the hunger will consume me too.

Alas, you and I, will part."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"I'm home!" Lockhart called as he pulled his home key from the door.

The only response received was the excited tapping of four paws that ran their way to the front. Roxas smiled. "I'm home Radar." Roxas chuckled lightly bending down to greet the puppy. He didn't get his happy kisses from the German Shepherd, instead, Radar had taken interest to his mouth, sniffing the traces of what used to be there.

"Don't worry boy, I am alright." He stroked his little snout and smiled to show he was as he said. "Do you wanna come with me to the kitchen to get some ice?" He raised his voice to excite the pup into tagging along with him. He never did this when the others were around, he knew he would be embarrassed if they heard him.

Before the blond could get up, his dog had already bounded towards the kitchen, the prospect of food more exciting for the young pup. Seemingly "ice" equaling "food".

The teen followed behind the dog, retrieving some cubes of ice and giving the begging German shepherd a treat before scooping him up. With one hand holding a cup of ice and the other wrapped around an excited puppy, Roxas moved into his quiet living room and sat comfortably on the couch, placing Radar beside him. Turning on the television, he relaxed and munched on his cold cubes.

He tried to pay attention to the channels as he surfed through them, but he found that his mind drifted off. For once, Lockhart had found that he had not been pondering events of his day, or even the thrilling moment he shared with Fair not too long ago. Instead, he considered the cold glass sitting on the coffee table, the nice, soft couch beneath him, the sleepy German shepherd lying on his lap, a home he considered to be normal, and from all this, especially, how grateful he was for it.

His mind stopped in its tracks when his eyes wandered to the silver-lined, medium-sized picture frame leaning on the centerpiece on the table. Despite himself, he smiled, leaning over to pick up the picture. In the photo was what Cloud liked to call a family portrait. It obviously consisted of Cloud with a big grin on his face, Leon with his usual frown, and a thirteen-year-old version of himself sticking his tongue at the camera refusing to comply for the portrait. But as Roxas studied the picture, his current-self staring at his past-self, he knew there was happiness inside him four years ago at this very moment.

Four years ago, when Cloud and Leon fostered him into their family.

Since then, things have greatly changed for the teen. He himself was surprised to have learned to have such an appreciation for what he had now. Back then, before he met his foster fathers, how he did things were totally different than how he currently conducted himself.

He could recall how terrible of a rebel he was. Anyone that knew him, which most people did from his hometown, could define him as the absolute definition of a juvenile delinquent. The blond thought back to his juvenile acts, and laughed unconsciously about how he used to vandalize random homes -even his own-, strategically steal from shops and people, break multitudes of school rules, and just…. being a terrible kid in general. He even thought it an achievement to have a Juvenile record at the age of ten, but he had already done worse by then. No wonder his mother got rid of him, but it made sense to him when he looked back.

Lockhart sighed thinking dully of his biological family. His father had obviously bailed on the family when he was so young that he could not remember. He thought of how much his mother, Ms. Lockhart, or should he call her 'Tifa', argue with him whenever he got himself into trouble. He didn't blame her for wanting to kick him out. Matter of fact, he didn't blame her for anything. The only thing that he did feel regret for was having to leave his little sister.

Roxas swallowed thickly at the thought of her. It shamed him that he couldn't even remember what her name was, or clearly remember what she looked like except her blond hair that was lighter than his own. He could remember the few times they played together. The times when they would sneak away together and play in the playground late at night when Roxas broke curfew. He truly loved her, and would do practically anything to see her again. However, her life was better off without him. He knew that much even though he could feel the heavy weight of his heart when he thought of her.

But he had to stop himself from thinking of her, there was already too much that he had already regretted.

Although, he was lucky to say that he was actually happier now. Grateful was not enough to describe the effects of what Cloud and Leon had done for him, and the promise he made to them and especially to himself.

Roxas exhaled a breath he had not known he had been holding. So much had changed in the four years he had been with Cloud and Leon. He owed it to them and himself to make a change; which, he decided to do this year, and years after. He was going to make things better for himself and set new goals. Actually try to get somewhere, be something, and fix all the things that went wrong in his thirteen years.

The calm in his life so far showed his progress of his first steps. The contentedness and love of two fathers aiding in more ways than one, a happy puppy to keep him company when he wanted no one else, and great friends to make up for the lost times was a big contrast to how he once lived. However, all this wasn't a large part of his real goal, just small parts and pieces that contributed to the whole.

Sitting back on his couch munching on melting ice, the swollen limb in his mouth was what he considered a good step in the right direction. The person who caused it being his main focus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this chapter was very informative about our infamous blond. To be honest, this is one of my favorite chapters from the whole despite it being VERY short. (Sorry about that) But let's be honest, anything with Roxas in it makes it an awesome chapter to write and read about because he is that great. [insert major bias here]
> 
> Reviews and constructive criticism please!
> 
> Until next time,
> 
> -R


	6. Ticks and Salted Wounds

Chapter 6: Ticks and Salted Wounds

_The phoenix, his new sun and beating heart, illuminated his way. The mysterious shadows, the overseer_

_Of all and closest familiar, became his cloak. Together, they were his sanctuary._

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

For once, Roxas was actually glad that he attended Destiny High. The school itself was obviously not like any regular school, full of kids at the top of their classes, and great sports and arts programs and curriculums for the students. Typical things that a really good school would have despite having quite the drawbacks, which, he and his many supporters could vouch on. However, there was one thing that they were grateful for at the beginning of each year. The week long break that they and the rest of the student body liked to call 'Academic Hiatus'.

It usually began after the first week of school. Students, teachers believed, should be using the time to adjust to and get all material for the upcoming classes for the school year. Seeing that the types of classes most students take, it would be sensible that students should take the week off to do so. But of course, they don't.

The blond, like many others, had taken advantage of their whole week free mainly to goof off and hang with his friends. Which he what he had planned to do today with his closest friends and subordinates, Axel and Xion.

They had decided to meet whenever Xion was available since she had some 'duties' she had to keep up with her family. Lockhart, knowing most of her situation, found it slightly funny knowing what her home life was like. His counterpart, Axel, really didn't have much going for him from what Roxas could tell. But they made sure when the three of them spent time together, they were in good kahoots.

The trio decided that their hangout destination for the day was their favorite location at their town's beach, Pier 3.

"Come on, Axel! For a tall-ass man you move pretty slow!" Roxas smiled as he watched Xion call out to the redhead but looked out to the sea. Catching the glimmers of the afternoon lights and the dark hues of the sky as the day neared its end. The scene before him created its own intimacy and serenity, a tranquility that the trio looked upon with weakened hearts of admiration.

They had chosen this spot not just for the semi-decent view of the ocean that seemed to stretch for miles beyond the sister islands, but they also enjoyed the privacy that came along with it. However, this particular pier was the smelliest thanks to the many fishing boats that stood by. But they taught themselves to disregard it.

The blond had been so lost in thought that he didn't notice Axel sneak behind him and press an iced coffee to his neck. He responded promptly, yelping in surprise followed by a fist directed at the anticipating redhead.

"Asshole." Roxas smirked despite the icy onslaught and took his drink from his best friend. "Thanks."

"No problem, princess." Axel winked as he sipped his minty bubble tea.

"Don't you ever rest with those silly pet names?" Xion giggled in between sips of her orange juice.

"I only do it because Roxas doesn't seem to care. Isn't that right, my love muffin?"

The blond nonchalantly shrugged at that. "I mean, for knowing this idiot for almost seven years, you find a way to get numb to it." It was true, Roxas could really care less what the redhead called him. Of course, as long as he didn't take it too far.

She considered that but snorted anyhow. "Seriously," She dubiously sighed. "Sometimes I feel like the awkward third wheel witnessing a boasting cock trying to court a lion cub."

"It is called a _'bromance'_ , my little friend, and you have a weird way of making comparisons."

"Drink your fucking syrup balls you twig." She smiled around her straw between her lips. Axel accordingly pressed a hand dramatically to his chest and had the look of hurt.

"Rox, you really picked a feisty one to befriend."

Said blond, who hadn't said anything since their spat unfolded, tried not to have his drink come back up differently than it came in.

Even though he had known Axel far longer than he had Xion, he never regretted making the duo into a trio. Ever since, Xion was undoubtedly an influence and great addition to his personal well being. In a sense, ever since he had gotten to know his slightly mysterious friend, he almost looked at her like a sister he knew would always have his back when he needed her.

However, even though Roxas had gotten 'close' to Xion, there were many things that he didn't know about her personal life as he hadn't told her much of his. If it hadn't been for a classmate she usually worked with, the Rebel leader wouldn't have known that she and Sora were related. Even now she had continued to refuse him and Axel permission to enter her house no matter how many times they asked. More than once, the blond questioned her about it but either got the answer, "It isn't a good time because of family matters.", or "Sora's here and I want to avoid conflict outside of classes.". Even though it was already a new code of conduct to not bring group matters home.

But both seem understandable considering that he and Axel weren't in a good social standing with the Royal brunet. Although, the prince knew it wouldn't have hurt for just a small visit. Though 'small visits' came to them just standing a distance from her house. There were moments when they doubted that Xion was as true as she said with her secret ways, sometimes hypocritical. But over the years, both boys had learned to respect Xion's secrecy and trust that whatever she did not want them to see or know was for good reason, even though she had seemed to find ways of knowing more about them.

Lockhart enjoyed a few more moments of his friend's biting chatter, finally getting consequently annoyed. "You know," The blond began as he looked seeing that he had almost finished his drink during their mindless quarrel. "I thought we were here as friends who wanted to enjoy each other's company at their favorite hangout." He took his straw and lazily circled it around his quarter-full cup. "Now I feel like the awkward third wheel." He grinned looking directly at Xion as he said this.

The deep blush of embarrassment on her face was enough to get Axel reeling. At least they could get to her emotions. Most times.

"Alright guys," Roxas got up and threw away his cup. "Time to have some fun."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"What the hell, Roxas! That's cheating!"

"I didn't say that throwing sand in your opponent's face was against the rules!" The prince grinned as he scooped more sand into his hands and proceeded to throw it into Xion's face. She retaliated by throwing some of the water she had left in her bucket in his direction but ultimately ended up ruining some of Roxas' sand sculpture.

"Not the dog! NOT THE DOG!" The blond shouted trying frantically to protect his sculpture.

"Should have thought this through, Rox!" She flashed him a sandy grin and tried to finish up her own.

"A minute and thirty seconds left…" Axel called not too far from the competing teens buried under sand with a timer beside him.

"S-Shit!" Both blue-eye teens cursed, quickening their pace to finish their task.

After a moment, Axel called time and both breathless competitors moved away from their sand sculptures. Sand erupted everywhere as the redhead stood from the sand he was previously encased in to examine them, looking thoughtful.

"Xion's," Axel declared after a long moment of tense silence.

"BULLSHIT!" Roxas exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air then nastily pointed at said winner's sand sculpture of a dog. "THAT LOOKS LIKE A SADASS GOBLIN!"

" _EAT IT BLONDIE!_ Realize that you are not good at EVERYTHING." Xion had the biggest grin on her face and high-fived Axel. Roxas childishly responded by kicking the subordinate's winning sculpture.

A slew of bantering and added competitions followed soon after. Anyone that was bystanding and watching the trio would have thought they were behaving as typical teenagers would, which was true enough. When the three of them were together like this, these were only the times when they could be the teenagers they really were. Having to keep up an image in school and home was always a strain for them. For at least the two of them, they would really be themselves at these times, and they relished in it.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Sucks we have to head home so early. Can't you tell your folks, you know, to cut you some slack?" Axel huffed with a cherry sucker between his lips.

"Well for one, ten o'clock is only what you consider early. And two, you know I could never get that approved by them. Cloud maybe, but Leon especially. He is up my butt about everything." Roxas smiled limply rubbing the new bruises on his wrists and arms. He had gotten them when he and Axel were wrestling in the sand. The redhead obviously had been rough.

"He has a good reason and it's his job. You're not the only one with a curfew now." Xion shared his sympathy, but this was new information to her friends.

A tiny smirk formed on the redhead's thin lips and deliberately stopped the raven from moving forward. "Sounds like Mr. Perfect is going a little too far. Mind indulging us?"

Roxas too was intrigued by the news, but he wouldn't have thought it anything new. Out of him and Axel, the blond could safely say that he knew much more about Xion's home life than the redhead did, or at least he thought he did. He didn't know everything, but he always jumped at the chance for any opportune moment. Even though he respected her privacy, it did wear on him sometimes since he thought of her as one of his best friends.

"Axel…" She warned, apparent she didn't want to speak more of the topic.

"That is so unfair, Xi." He frowned. "What gives you the right to think it's okay to know so much about your pals but withhold the color panties you're wearing?" Roxas couldn't help but snort at that, but if _Axel_ knew, he would use it as blackmail.

The blue-eyed raven hesitated for a moment but glared at the redhead. "It's not like Roxas is any different." Her remark now focusing the attention to the blond. "I'm sure you guys know each other _pretty well_ , but I bet you, like myself, don't have a clue what his previous relationship with my brother was like."

Xion turned her gaze to her prince as he did to her. "Believe me, I've tried figuring it out, I even went so far to ask my own brother and his friends. But no one wants to share, I always wondered why."

Roxas knew exactly where she was trying to get at, though he scoffed at her. If there was only one thing that he disliked that Xion did, it would be how she would find a way to manipulate a situation for her own personal gain. Although, the prince wasn't having it. "If you plan on being cheeky and exchange information, Xion, then we better ask Axel why he stepped down years ago. I happen to not know that either."

Both younger teens looked at the now miffed redhead, notably having a distaste where things were going. Roxas almost wanted to laugh at what he called his 'circle of friends'. The idea of close friends having a friendship that involved little secrets and willingness to talk about anything; they seemed to be doing the opposite. To Roxas, it looked that this was truly just a mock friendship made up of distrust and secrets. He himself, wondered how they were able to stick together this long seeing how their friendship played out.

"Alright," Axel sighed deeply after a few moments. "If this is how we'll play the game, then I'll go first." Both Roxas and Xion crossed their arms at this, but the hint of interest went unmasked.

"Guess you guys are really going to make me do this, huh?"

"Just get on with it."

"Alright, alright. Well, to make a long story short," The lanky teen began. "I got involved with something I shouldn't have, things got complicated and I stepped down on my own accord. And that's it."

Roxas and Xion stared at him for a full minute, obviously unsatisfied with the explanation.

"That can't be it. That didn't explain anything at all!" Xion brows furrowed.

"Hey, you didn't say that I needed to be specific."

Deep frowns settled on both the junior's faces, but they knew it was adjacent to the actual truth and that was all they were getting. For now.

"Well you got my explanation, Xion?" Axel grinned, twiddling a lock of his hair between his fingers.

"Fine." She began dismissively. "Well first off, yes, Sora gave me a curfew." Both boys suspected as much but held their questions and continued to listen. "Don't ask me why because I have no clue. Maybe he's attempting to fashion his idea of 'authority', or maybe just giving me another headache to worry about. This wouldn't be such a problem if it wasn't just us, and my mother leaving Sora in charge…" She trailed off. Roxas could see that gradual growth of anger as she had spoken, however, her next words sounded of sadness. Something that neither of the male friends got to see of Xion. "...That was something that my mother used to do… It used to not be like this…"

His female friend didn't have to say more for him to understand. Without her saying it, Roxas figured that she and Sora were close at one point. Of course, he had learned this from another source, and that in the past their parents used to be quite involved in their lives. It must have been a long time ago that they had been on civil terms, Xion and her brother. But when Roxas had first met them they weren't. The blond didn't know what role Xion's mother played in it all, but it looked that it was critical. For Xion at least. Naturally, Roxas would have wanted to ask more details on the subject but the shift of tone in her voice told him that anything that dealt with the relationship between her and her brother was still sensitive.

"That's enough." Roxas didn't want her going further seeing that this was as far she would have likely wanted to go.

"Well, Rox, your turn." Axel nudged him not wasting time. "What was your relationship with Mr. Kiss-ass, hm? You seem very _interested_ in him this year." Roxas eyed him at that, but he consented to giving the half-truth since they have been doing that from the beginning.

The blond exhaled slowly through his nose before beginning. He wished they hadn't agreed to do this, but it was inevitable. "You could say we knew each other at some point, most definitely." It felt weird for the blond to talk about himself, or anything that dealt with him for that matter. He slightly grimaced for he could feel the small sense of vulnerability creeping up inside him. He didn't like it.

"In fact, we were best friends." Axel and Xion seemed almost surprised by this but held silent. "He was there from the very beginning when I first moved to Destiny Islands. Fair was like my rock, he was there when no one else was. But, I happened to get in a mix-up with his friends and we weren't so close anymore." His eyes were downcast, focusing on one point on the concrete they had been walking on. Flashbacks to when he was younger came to him, remembering the solidarity and pain he had gone through, what he was before and after he met Sora, and how even he tolerated him even when Roxas knew he went too far. "There is a lot I personally wish I could thank him for, but, that's all I'm sharing."

If he continued to think and speak like this, Roxas knew his mind would enter dangerous territory.

"Alright, I guess that's enough going around the truth circle for tonight."

Axel had thankfully broken the awkward silence for the three. The information that Roxas had shared to be a bit of a surprise and dismissed them for the night. "Good thing we had this chat in front of your house, Xi, I don't think I can handle another minute of your brother's glaring."

Roxas head snapped up at that; he hadn't realized that they had already arrived at her house. Roxas turned, and sure enough, Sora was standing on the porch leaning against one of the support beams staring down at the three of them while they chatted on the sidewalk.

He was dressed in a plain white shirt and dark red sweatpants. His hair was a little droopier than normal, which made the blond assume that he had just finished getting out of the shower. He also wore his trademark frown that only appeared when both boys were present. If it weren't for the trio's talk moments ago, he would have thought differently of the situation. Or of Sora more specifically.

When they caught each other's gaze, Sora's eyes squinted in mistrust, but the Rebel kept his leveled, not showing much intrigue or wickedness. Now, Roxas could feel that he couldn't be bothered.

"We'll be seeing you around I guess. I need to get going too. Axel, come."

"Yes, your majesty." The redhead nodded at the raven as they parted their ways. Xion glancing once more towards the blond before returning to her home.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The walk to Roxas' house was on the way to Axel's, which the prince was secretly glad for now that he didn't feel like walking home alone. Walking from Xion's neighborhood to his was almost a huge contrast. Where his subordinate lived, the houses were bigger, very expensive, and much neater. If it were up to the Rebel, he would have categorized her house alone to be like that of a small mansion. He couldn't say he was jealous, but he was quite curious as to what was inside. And it seemed that everyone in the neighborhood had nice looking cars. Though that would be something to be expected for a neighborhood as pristine as hers. Verses Xion's subdivision, Roxas' wasn't what one would call 'first-class', although it was decent enough to be welcoming. His place was mostly quiet with the exception of chatty dogs and excited squeal of kids. It was more or less a friendly area appropriate for those that had enough to get by. There were the occasional shanty looking houses, or some with boarded-up windows. However, that did stop people from coming in. Roxas didn't dislike it. It was home enough to him and considerably better than how he used to live with his old folks. Overall, there wasn't much he could complain about. Appearance didn't matter much to him now.

It specifically didn't matter now that the blond could feel one of his 'ticks' coming on after the minor event today.

They came to the front of his lawn, but Roxas made sure to check the time before pulling the redhead to the side of the house.

"Hey, Rox, wha-"

"We have twenty minutes." He dragged him behind the bushes to where they were hidden from the view of the street. From there, Roxas proceeded to pull Axel down and kissed him, harshly.

Axel didn't pull back, humming in contentment. For him, it was normal for Roxas to come up with random times and places to have their moments. It was thrilling for him, but sometimes he questioned the sudden ferocity from the prince in moments like this one.

Quick kisses transgressed into long open-mouthed ones, but the taller Rebel regrettably had to force himself to pull back before they had gone too far in the moment. "Are you sure about this?" The taste of the traces of Roxas' iced coffee still on his lips and was mixed with the slight of taste of cherries from the sucker Axel finished long ago.

"It's Thursday night. Movie Night." He spoke quickly wanting to not waste the little time they had just talking. Chilled fingers sucked up the warmth of Axel's skin as they snaked up his loose fitting sandy shirt. "They'll be too preoccupied to even hear or notice." The prince added, hands hastily undoing the belt of his pants.

The redhead chuckled. "You never seem to stop intriguing me." Axel smirked pulling Roxas up and pinning him against the wall of his house.

In less than a few moments, both teens were sporting full erections. The tall redhead had not undressed even minutely except for the obvious sag of his jeans to give room to his confined sex. The blond prince wrapped his legs around the other's middle. His lower half unclothed.

Roxas knew that if anyone had the right mind and went out to look for him, they would certainly get an eye full, not that he minded any. Seeing that he was now half naked, neck decorated with angry red hickies, and two teens with disheveled hair, it would be a scene to behold. If it weren't for the fact that there were in this neighborhood, right next to the window of his living room where Leon and Cloud likely were, and out in the open, Roxas would have taken the time to thoroughly enjoy himself. If, not given the circumstances of course. But then again, they were circumstances that made having sex with his best friend all the more exciting and scandalous. But he couldn't fight his needs, his ticks, and using his best friend to relieve them didn't mean much to the blond anyhow.

He didn't think much of how he would tell Axel, the one that has been there the longest after Sora and obviously held a great attraction to the prince, that all this were for his own personal satisfaction. The Rebel wouldn't tell him outright, but if he had asked, he would make it apparent.

Even for the meaningful kisses, the gentle caresses, soft and lingering touches, and how incredibly good he made him feel, they didn't mean anything for him in the terms of singular feelings towards Axel. Though Roxas couldn't help but pity the man, seeing that there was no way for him to return his affections.

But it wasn't just Axel's that he couldn't return, it was also the many people he had been doing the same within and outside of school. Members of his own group, a few teachers if he was really feeling into it, and even some people from the Royal group as well. Titles didn't stop him from soothing his desire, nothing had.

Maybe Leon was right, he needed to go to his therapist for his sex addiction. But he didn't dwell too much in the thought as Axel pounded him back into reality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Review and constructive criticism are welcome!
> 
> Until next time,
> 
> -R


	7. Knowing the Unknown

Chapter 7: Knowing the Unknown

_The Moon and the Red Sea join to be his armor. His pride and resentment made the green boy's double-edged sword._

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

A big smile played on Sora's face while he sat in the passenger side of Wakka's Hummer. The speakers were playing loud but not loud enough that the group of friends riding along couldn't exchange excited chatter. They all decided to wake up early to start their day's event, a get together that Sora had organized to enjoy the full week off from school.

They traveled in two cars riding along the coast, enjoying the early morning blue gradient ocean skyline and the light refreshing breeze from the sea. If it weren't for living in a subdivision far into town, Sora wouldn't have minded living by the sea. He saw the small ripples in the waves that have settled from the night and the smooth undisturbed sand sculpted from the waters. Just driving past such a scenic place placed the brunet in an absolute calm. For the moment, he didn't allow himself to think of home, school, or his current situation. Everything just felt good, and he wished he could keep it like that.

"Hey Sora, thanks for getting all this together for us. It's really cool of you." The prince's moment of peace was interrupted, but not unwanted. He smiled and turned to Tidus who was sitting in the back seat with his other friends. He was a long time friend being a couple years older but had been with him for some time.

"You're welcome. Anything to spend time with my friends."

In truth, Sora wouldn't have organized their day without help from his parents. As far as he knew, he didn't _need_ permission to do anything with his friends. His parents were rarely present in anything he did at home or at school to begin with, and the only time he needed to request anything of them was when he needed to make any financial transaction, which was mainly done through his 'father'.

He could feel his heart darken at the thought of them. When he started middle school his relationship with his parents had gradually deceased. It was to the point that he couldn't remember the last time that either of his parents been to anything he had planned. His interaction between him and his mother were needless notes and letters left for him to find in the kitchen. His mother, Aerith, was almost never home. And when she was, it was during the time that neither Xion nor himself were present. The prince knew that his mother was busy with her profession; her working away at her studio working on landscaping ideas. It was her hobby when the brunet was young, but her talent had landed her a high maintenance well-paying job that required her to work away from home. Doing something like that used to be just a small passion, but in Sora's eyes, there was nothing wrong with pursuing it.

In other words, Sora figured that was one good thing to say about his mother. But then again, there were the negatives that have led to him to where he is now. As for his 'father', they have kept calls to a minimum. Whenever they did speak, it was only for updates about how Xion was doing, maintaining the home, and the rare questions of Aerith. The brunet couldn't help but feel for the man sometimes, but both he and his mother worked away from home, so some things could not be helped. Occasionally Sora wondered how Xion handled their parents not being home.

However, for now, everything seemed to be up to him. It was up to him to make the decisions now, and he was going to try his hardest to hold together whatever was left.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

An hour after a relaxful drive and cheerful conversation finally had Sora and his gang arriving at the beachside docks. Two cars parked respectively in their parking spaces as everyone climbed out and headed to their reserved boat that awaited them. Some relished in the fresh smell of fish or could taste the salt in the air, the others just glad that they could stretch their legs from the drive and feel the sun.

The boat was big enough for everyone brought along. That was his best friends, Riku and Kairi, but also a handful of his best classmates: Tidus, his girlfriend Yuna, their best friends Rikku, Wakka, and Yuffie.

It was tradition for all eight of them to go out to the other islands to play a match of whatever sport of their choosing; although, this year was slightly different. For Sora, 'slightly' just meant an additive to their gang. Instead of there just being eight of them, there was now nine. The addition being his little sister, Xion.

She had ridden in the second car with Riku, Kairi, Yuffie, and Rikku. Sora didn't have to wonder if the ride was pleasant since the moment she climbed out of the car and into the boat, he could see the look of annoyance on her face.

She didn't voluntarily come, that much was clear. It was thanks to his mother, who had prior knowledge of his annual arrangement, that requested for him to "allow" Xion to participate this year with them. Sora could have refused her, but he couldn't bring himself to. At times, he did feel his sense of duty take over whenever it was something that his mother had wanted, but in reality, she wouldn't have known if Xion went or not. He could have lied; it wouldn't have made much of a difference. But he felt like there would have been a risk. Would there?

With all nine teens sitting in the boat, it was already decided that Riku was going to drive. Sora was thankful that his best friend's father managed a major boat company, and it was an added bonus that Riku knew how to pilot above water vehicles.

"So, guys, who's turn is it to decide teams?" Yuffie smiled wide, plopping down next to Kairi as her fingers tapped away at her phone.

"Dunno, last year it was Tidus, and he separated us to girls versus boys. They demolished us, remember?"

Yuffie grimaced at the thought of last year and the many times said sandy-haired blond cheated and played nasty against the girls. "Alright, um…" She looked about the boat until her eyes narrowed down on a silently brooding blue-eyed raven. "What about you, Xion? I doubt you'll be playing so why don't you separate the teams?"

If surprise was on the younger's face, she did not show it. Honestly, she had not thought anyone would bother conversing with her, much like the time she was in the car with her worst enemies. She did not expect to have tagged along on this trip, nor did she want to. But expectedly, all eyes were on her as soon as she appeared with her brother, even now.

The innocence of Yuffie's face oblivious to the tension of what felt like a pack of wolves staring down a hare. Except, she wasn't afraid of a single one of them.

"Whatever." Xion laid back on her cushioned seat and avoided everyone's gaze. She didn't accept either object the task of choosing. It was only the matter of having the day over with.

"That would be a _horrible_ idea." Kairi glared at Yuffie, obviously not settling with the decision. "She will purposely pick the wrong people and make them look bad." The redhead shot a nasty look in Xion's direction. Having to have ridden with her and suffer from being just in her presence, it was impossible for the rebel girl to not come into conflict with her brother's mess of a friend.

"It's admirable how much you seem to know my calculated plan to have your teams fall apart. You know me so well." A thin smirk adorned her pale face. The gentleness and shine of her eyes being a sharp contrast to her non-befitting smile.

"I think it is quite clear that you have it out for us." She scoffed

"And by what means?"

"By sabotaging our group get together by you just being here!"

"Me being here was not by choice. I would have suspected my brother would have told you."

"Even so, could you do like your pretentious friends and rebel once in awhile when it's actually _useful_?"

"I thought we agreed to leave group related things outside home events..." Xion quirked a brow.

"Well that's hard to do when YOU look like-"

_"ENOUGH!"_

Sora glared at the girls looking back at him in alarm. He didn't want his week to end up with childish conflict, and he was sure that Kairi knew better than to start drama. He was wrong.

"Kai, let it go. She'll choose teams. It is not a big deal. Unless, you want to start another petty fight over whose swimsuit looks better?" The redhead's cheeks colored but this time held her tongue. "And Xion," He turned to his sister. "Stop looking like you are angry at the world. Mom wants us to have a fun time. I know you don't want to be here, but please don't ruin this for everyone else." Sora watched his sister cross his arms and look away seeming not to have regarded anything he just said.

The brunet was looking forward to having a good time with his friends, but since his sister had to tag along, he hoped that she could find one part of the trip the least bit enjoyable.

The prince exhaled, hearing Yuffie quietly apologize to Xion. Tidus continued his conversation with Wakka on his left, and Riku steering while talking with Yuna on his right. Everything was going back to normal, like the whole spat didn't happen in the first place. Sora hoped it could stay like that…for now.

The nine teens clambered out of the boat once it arrived to their designated area. They docked on the far side of the island, closest to the rough foliage that covered most of the space. Inside the thick forest was their day's event. A game of Capture the Flag.

"Alright then," Tidus turned to look at the group but particularly at Xion. "What are the groups?"

Sora eyed his sister, but she seemed calm and collected enough. She looked thoughtful, looking at each person and actually appearing to analyze each person as if their stats were displayed on their foreheads.

"Let's see… Tidus, Yuffie, Sora, and Kairi is the yellow team. Wakka, Yuna, and both Rikus in the other. Sounds good?"

"No." Kairi squared her shoulders and crossed her arms. "Yuffie and I are weaker. We would be slowing our team down."

"No, you wouldn't." The raven added quickly after her remark. "You underestimate yourself. You worry too much about physicality than other parts of playing the game."

Both girls looked at each other skeptically. Xion rolled her eyes not believing that she had to spell it out for them. She stepped towards them and explained it in the most simplistic way she could. "Kairi, despite lacking in speed for long durations of time, you are skilled in analyzing situations and determining the best course of actions. Yuffie," Xion turned to her. "You may not realize this, but you are quiet and quick on your feet. It can be pretty obvious what advantages you have through this, but in the end, it is up to you girls to figure out how to utilize your skills." The Rebel finished her explanation and watched as the girls seemed thoughtful of her words. She could have decided to go more in depth, but she felt that it would have defeated the fun of playing the game if everyone knew how each other worked.

With that, Sora watched his sister turn and walk into the forest. He was a bit surprised of his sister's analytical ability and being able to separate the eight of them into two functional teams. Although, he should have known that to be one of her redeeming qualities, but there was still much that even he wasn't quite sure of about her. But he didn't wish to dwell on the thought any longer. With Xion attending the game or not, he wouldn't let that stop him from enjoying a competitive game with his friends.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Almost an hour had gone by since the game had started. Both teams had separated to their designated areas but were fast on the move when the audible air horn cut through the forest. A fraction of Sora's mind was relieved that his sister had made it to the watch tower, hopefully unharmed, but he had to focus on the new challenge at hand.

The prince currently laid still under the brush of low rising canopy leaves. He thought it was a good place to stake out and had managed to get close enough to the other team's base unnoticed. However, he was not foolish enough to have gone this far by himself. Knowing that he would need stealth and speed to accomplish his mission, he had Tidus tag along with him. The brunet knew it best to have the girls protect their base for he knew neither of them could outrun Wakka, Rikku, and his silver haired friend. All three of them were gifted with speed, and either way one of the girls would have been captured and placed in the opposite team's confinement area. It would have been too risky to lose vital players so early in the game considering that this was only the first round. For now, it was only him and Tidus, the blond hidden elsewhere covering for Sora once he made a move.

Sora shifted his yellow shirt trying to make sure it wasn't caught on any plants. It was slightly surprising that neither Yuna or Riku had noticed his brightly colored shirt with him being almost twenty feet away from their base. He could spot Tidus a little ways from his location. For times like this, he was glad for his keen eye. Sora had only hoped that it would serve him well during their game.

The brunet moved once again and stayed low as he crawled closer to his target. He already wasted enough time staking out and waiting for an opening, but it was now or never at this point. He could see Yuna in her dark blue tee, her back turned to him as she surveyed the area in front of her, which also held the flag in her sights. In their game, a player could not be more than ten feet from their flag, so if he had played the game right, he could snatch the flag and be on his way.

Slowly creeping to his feet, Sora darted forward. Using the tips of his toes to carefully step and minimize sound, the prince effortlessly ran past the startled senior and snatched up the flag-baton within seconds. He turned heel, threw Yuna a toothy grin, then ran towards his base.

A shill horn sounded from the watchtower alerting everyone that a flag had been taken. For Sora, it was a race against time before the opposite team caught up with him. But he didn't have much to worry about. He was glad that he had Tidus on his side.

Minimizing his stride but quickening his step, the prince tried to conserve energy for the moment he would most need it. He tried to continue as fast as he could, trying not to alert anyone as he ran by. But it was then that he heard a series of familiar calls -traditional bird calls- that only meant one thing. Someone was on the way to intercept him.

Sora had to thank the gods for taking his time with his teammates to organize calls of hidden messages. He had thought it would be a good idea since there wasn't many in their team this year, and it would save them a lot of trouble since it was inevitable that they would all get separated. The brunet assumed that Tidus had encountered or seen a blue team member and was warning him in advance. Though the thing that troubled him most after the call was who was on their way to stop him?

Sora tried to think rationally as he ran through the forest. If the girls had succeeded in their mission to protect their base, then the two on offense could have gotten themselves thrown in their jail, or likely hadn't taken the chance to grab their flag. Since there hadn't been any alerts prior to when he took his opponent's flag-baton, both were possible. However, what he really hoped for in his current ordeal was that there was only one person in his pursuit, not three.

Unexpectedly, Sora was knocked right back into reality when he almost tripped on a root that jutted out in his path. He stumbled once, cursing under his breath, but then from the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of something dark blue, pale, and silver coming towards him. Fast.

_Shit, I forgot about **him**._

His heart lurched, and he caught himself in time to change direction and head towards north. If he had been paying more attention to his surroundings, he would have noticed Riku coming much sooner, but by now he had already been spotted, including the flag in his hand. So much for keen eyesight.

"Damn it all!" Sora cursed again and kicked his gears into full drive. Knowing that Riku was a football athlete, running was nothing to him. Sora, being a non-athlete, knew that it was only a matter of time before Riku caught up with him. But with that in mind and having to move in a different direction from his base, he was really in a pinch. It would be more like hell if Wakka and Rikku catch wind of his route, but that was more likely with a bright yellow brunet running through a forest.

"Give it up, Sora!"

"S-Shut up! You haven't caught me yet!"

The prince kept on trucking as quickly as he could. Every second made every footstep draw nearer to the time his best friend could catch him. It was the type of situation where he could hear Riku bustling about as he rushed through the leaves, and his heavy footsteps as they impacted the ground and crushed the leaves beneath them. To say that Sora was scared of his current predicament, that would have been an understatement.

It felt like he had ran a mile before he could finally catch his base in his sights. Unfortunately for him, it was too great of a distance for him to even consider making it before getting plowed by the silver bull at his heels.

Tidus was sure to be far behind, and he wasn't sure if the girls would see him so far out of the way of their base. _Unless…_

"Wakka! Rikku! Grab him!"

The Royal prince inhaled sharply, suddenly finding the other two coming at him from different directions. They had been waiting for him, and it was too late for him to stop. Wakka and Rikku were coming in a way that would be impossible for him to escape, and Riku was practically nipping at his heels. His heart beat once, taking everything in. He looked towards his base, then the bushes, and prayed.

"Yuffie!" The brunet threw the flag-baton into the bushes before roughly being tackled to the ground.

Brown curled hair popped out of the bushes, effortlessly catching the flag and running the other way.

"No way!" Rikku shouted and Wakka growled, both of them quickly getting up to charge towards the retreating girl. The prince grunted but smirked at the displeased Riku as he removed himself from on top of him.

Orange trainers raced towards the base. Yuffie knew she couldn't outrun her pursuers. They would nab her before she even got ten feet to her base, yet she was so close. The only chance their team got would be using their _trump_ card.

"YOU'RE MINE NOW!" Wakka shouted behind her, causing her to gasp in alarm.

The redhead lunged. Yuffie went long.

Similar to what Sora had done with Yuffie, the flag sailed through the air and was caught by a grinning redhead that stood within the colored ring that scored them a point. An airhorn sounded as clear as day, signifying a win for the yellow team.

All three of the opposing team members groaned or screamed profanities but Fair responded with a huge smile. He could see Kairi cheering in merriment and Yuffie joining her with their success, obviously not expecting their strategy to work out so well. Eventually, Tidus and Yuna arrived, the sandy-haired blond looking somewhat disappointed he missed out on the action and momentous scene. But Sora couldn't hide his pride in his team and how well they worked together. He looked forward for the next rounds to come.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Man, that was a great game. Don't you agree, Sora?" Yuna sipped at her water and turned to the prince.

"Yeah, you guys certainly did kick our butts even though we had a good lead." Sora laughed a little. The group was gathered around a fallen tree, trying to regain their energy since their game.

Riku's team had defeated them by a few points, but Sora didn't take anything to heart just from losing. He could tell from the tired faces and weak smiles of his friends that everyone had a good time, that being his intention from the very beginning.

The senior couple were off to his side. Yuna tended to Tidus' wounds and scolding him for playing roughly and not being careful during the game, and Tidus, the only one in his team that remained upset about losing, brooded over their loses. Rikku Wakka, and Yuffie were busy chilling a watermelon to add to their already laid out refreshments for everyone, and finally Riku and Kairi were sitting on either side of him. Kairi was doing her usual and tapping away at her phone while Riku laid mostly on the sand basking in the sun. For a second, Fair almost had the mischievous thought of sprinkling some sand in his face, but that would likely turn into a wrestling match that he would likely lose, plus he was already spent.

For once, ever since class has started, everything felt good again. No assignments to worry about, no image he has to keep up, and especially, no mentions of Rebels or anything dealing with them to sour his mood. He felt tranquil. So calm, that the thought of his sister almost eluded him.

Now becoming anxious from remembering of his sister, the prince looked about the area hoping to spot Xion. He had forgotten to look for her after the game, but he was sure that she wouldn't have gone far. A part of him immediately felt regret, but he knew that Xion was more than capable of looking after herself. He just couldn't help his overlooked responsibility. He finally spotted her walking along the shore, her shoes removed and staring out into the sea looking towards their home. Relief washed over him.

"Hey, Xi! Come try these watermelons with us!" Rikku waved her down once she came by, but she received the raven's usual frown.

"Only my friends call me that." She replied but walked on over to inspect the refreshments.

"Aw, but I like to think we're friends. You're less intimidating than your other friends."

Sora inwardly flinched and caught a small glimpse of something smoldering in Xion's expression. _So much for peace…_

"I mean that Axel guy still gives me the creeps. He's like a walking scarecrow, right?" Rikku went on ignoring the glare Xion was throwing at her.

"I ain't scared of da guy. He may be tall, but he doesn' have the muscle like I do." Wakka grinned. "But if I were honest, it would be da small blondie dat gets me on edge. Just da way he looks at ya. You can tell dat there must be some bad juju in him. Dat's the type of mess I don' want hanging around my pants."

Riku chuckled beside Sora. "You got that right."

_Please, stop…_

"Guys, I don't think we should-" Yuffie tried to interject but was interrupted by Kairi.

"I don't know if you heard the latest, but I've heard that he lives in the slums. How sad can you get? Am I right?" The redhead giggled, and her friend became unsure of herself.

"From what I hear, he is a nut and has a record following him since he was a toddler."

"Tidus!" Yuna looked sternly and disapproving at her boyfriend but sighed. "Despite his character, truthfully, he is not someone I would want to hang around with, but you should give him some respect and not talk about him like this."

_Yes, stop. Please, don't make me talk..._

At this point, the Royal prince had hoped it would end at Yuna's remark but it hadn't. Riku had sat up during the discussion and looked to be eagerly waiting his turn to add his input.

"If I had the chance, I would _personally_ kick his ass for the years of shit he put us through and drag him out of the system. Wouldn't that be **great** , Sora?"

_NO!_

Said brunet could almost feel his heart shrink back when most of the group turned to him awaiting his response. It was as if he could taste the common feeling of disgust from everyone. Then again, this was something that he was familiar with confronting, so he didn't think once he opened his mouth. If he did this at school, how would it be different now?

"We all know what that idiot and his lanky flea is like. Personally, as long as he is nowhere near me and my friends he could live in a dumpster for all I care." Sora could feel small tremors in his hands, but he couldn't stop. He forced himself to ignore them, staying nonchalant. "It's already bad that he's in the same math class as me, but you would have thought that for knowing him for twelve years, he would have become less than a jackass." The brunet knew he should stop, but didn't. "But now we have this sorry excuse of a juvenile Rebel prince that doesn't care what he's doing, who he's doing, **and-** "

But before Sora could even finish his sentence, what happened next happened so quickly that he almost didn't register it.

One moment he had been sitting on the fallen tree trunk, and a split second after he practically landed face first into the sand behind him. He heard the slap before he felt it, and when he did, it hurt bad. His eyes pooled with tears and he reached to touch his left cheek, but when he did he recoiled as it felt like his whole cheek was set aflame. It took him a moment to look up and meet the gaze of a royally pissed Xion.

They had stared at each other for long moments at a time. Being 'surprised' didn't quite cover how Sora currently felt seeing that he failed to notice his sister coming up to him.

Her face was clearly filled with much anger. Her eyes seemed to glow with her intensity and nobody dared to speak after the moment transpired. It was Xion's turn.

"You… you all sure do have nice things to say about my friends. I wonder what it is like when all of you go home and talk shit about each other behind everyone's back." The angry Xion didn't bother to look at anyone else as she spoke. Hey eyes locked only with her brother's. "Truthfully, I don't appreciate how you're talking about them, my best friends. But let me tell you something..."

She glowered at her brother and leaned down to him. He couldn't dream to imagine the venom that possessed her. Whatever she was going to say next was likely going to be next to the truth. A truth that Sora had the feeling he didn't want to face.

"You all think that you know my Roxas as the 'Juvenile Rebel Prince', but you don't know him like I do. You may have known him longer, seven, ten, twelve years maybe? I honestly don't give a crap. All in all, despite all the things you say he did then and what he may be doing now, you don't know the Roxas Lockhart that I know."

That being said and done, she backed away from Sora and stomped away, grabbing an armful of refreshments before going elsewhere.

"Yeesh...I'm sorry bruh'duh, but your sista is a scary li'le thing." Wakka laughed nervously watching her go. "Um, do ya think she'll be wanting to ride with us after dis?"

The prince didn't answer. He didn't know if he couldn't or just didn't wish to. He didn't watch his sister go, he had no desire to. He knew where she was going, but it was up to her if she decided to come back. He understood if Xion didn't.

'You don't know the Roxas Lockhart that I know.'

_Lockhart...what did he know about him?_

Sora brought a hand up to cover his eyes and grimaced. She was right. He didn't know him any more than his friends did. Not anymore.

Subconsciously, his fingers brushed the silver crowned necklace he forgotten was usually there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Until next time,
> 
> -Roxy


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Another World

_Knives to cut the crown of the Red Sea and fake tales to challenge the loyalty of the Silver Moon's trust. The blond wolf laid masked behind the Green boy's love._

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Sora woke up more tired than he had wished. His eyes were heavy, and he had been tossing around in bed wishing deeply to have slept a little longer, but it didn't come to him. Their week long vacation had ended about a month ago, and the brunet was still finding himself exhausted even after the trip. Although, the day was another day, and he had to force himself to get up.

Slipping out of his comforter then staggering to his bathroom, he took a quick shower and performed his daily morning routine. He tried not to think too much what awaited him once he was at school, but he planned to go there with a clear mind unlike weeks before. Xion's words were nothing but a faint echo.

Refreshed and dressed, the Royal prince made his way into the kitchen to make himself some breakfast. He hadn't expected to find his sister standing by the fridge once he walked in. At the sound of him, the ravenette didn't seem to have acknowledged him. She had instead walked out, school things in hand, avoiding him as she went along. The prince had almost hesitated for a moment, a small part of him wanting to stop her. But for what? He knew she was still mad at him for what happened weeks ago at the island; there wasn't much surprise there. Although, even for the days that followed after, he could still remember the anger in her eyes. Her words had become a nail in his mind that he couldn't pull out no matter how hard he tried expelling the thought. With all things said, they revolved around one another, not speaking of the one person that he didn't want to think of.

But he knew the more he lingered on it, the more he would doubt his reasoning. That was something he didn't want to challenge, but it seemed like every passing day forced him to. And every day made it grimmer and grimmer.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was strange for Roxas to feel like he had an extra spring in his step. He was in a good mood the moment he had woken up and being on his way to school. Oddly enough, Leon hadn't given him so much hell as he would expect as their morning routine. He met up with his subordinates per usual, Xion strangely glad to see him, which was a first. Axel was his usual self, making snide comments or subtle passes towards the prince. Not that he cared either way.

However, today seemed like one of those rare days where things were going to go his way. Whatever it was, he was looking forward to it.

But knowing him, he wasn't going to waste his 'good day' by being an absolute angel. He needed his fun every once in awhile. 'Fun' defined as telling some of his supporters to fill all water sources with dish soap. That of course included the toilets, pool, and water fountains dotting the school. He watched, laughing as they went up in bubbles and enjoying the sight of frustrated Royals having to clean up their mess. But he was glad that he taught his members how to cover their tracks, safe for some suspensions.

For the most part, his day went by with little difficulty. He only had to get rid of a few of his members, and had no more accidents in chemistry during a lab. The only class he was most looking forward to was his Algebra class.

Roxas had undeniably taken the joys of teasing Sora Fair. There were many times when the rebel had taken the advantage of sitting behind him and ogling his form or pretending to whisper a message to him to catch a whiff of his cologne. Albeit, Sora's reactions were pleasing. Deep blushes, silent profanities, and deep angry looks. The Rebel couldn't help but abuse his luck, that is until their instructor became a little fed up with his antics and had the class rearranged, and he now sat beside him. But that stopped him minutely. It just gave him the privilege to stare at the brunet and admire him to his heart's content.

And today he was going to do just that.

Roxas fiddled with a triangular piece of paper and had been sitting in class prior to its actual start time. He was given permission from Mr. Linke, but he was thankful since it was also the fact that he happened to be one of his favorite students. It was not every day, but some days Roxas did take some time to chat with his professor. He wasn't like most teachers he interacted with. He was pleasant to be around at the least. He was glad for once that he was one less instructor he needed to give favors to.

The blond realized that he must have been spacing out for a while hence he didn't realize that students started trickling into the class. He watched as other teens chatted idly, some of them greeting him, mainly his supporters and a few outsiders. He didn't mind them much since Namine was one, but in the end, he would sometimes get a few chatting with him.

He wondered what she was doing now. It's been awhile since he had seen her.

A few minutes passed before Roxas finally spotted the Royal prince walk in. He inwardly smiled and watched him tiredly make his way around the desks to his assigned seat beside the rebel. Lockhart's first instinct was to say something to Sora, but the sight of the bags under his eyes and tired expression made him think otherwise.

"Lockhart…"

"Fair..." Roxas stared at him a few moments, not sure of what to say, but eventually finding it. "Well, you look like hell run over." He remarked blatantly, resting his cheek on his hand.

"Not now Roxas."

"Whoooa… you actually used my first name! Must mean that you are having a shitty morning."

Sora gave him a side-eyed glare and rolled his eyes, then reached into his bag to grab his materials.

"So much for friendly conversation." He said and continued to watch Sora place his things down. It was always like this between them. It was how they communicated and over time they had just accepted it. Though it gone on so long that the blond was starting to get a little tired of it. A thought occurred to him, making his heart flutter a little. But he thought it wouldn't hurt to voice his thoughts considering that they were partners, or supposed to be.

"You know, we don't always have to act like we can't be civil. Soon we're going to have to work together and come to terms with each other." He spoke evenly, making sure he spoke directly to him even for his current indifferent attitude. "You may not like it even though that is clear enough. But eventually, at some point, we're going to have to make this work."

_I sound like a counselor..._

Fair finally turned to him almost causing the rebel to blush. He had looked him in the eye, almost seeming to weigh his words. He had been mostly silent for the time he had arrived so that left Roxas to scramble for words.

"T-Though I'm only saying this in means of both of us passing this semester. And don't get me wrong, I've seen your scores even when you try to hide them from me."

Sora went crimson and diverted his attention once again from the blond to the board. At least Roxas thought he was receiving a 'decent' response. Or the usual. But Lockhart had to push him on. He felt like for the first time in a while he was getting somewhere, but Sora's added silence was making him all the more anxious.

"We were assigned as partners and I-"

"Roxas, I believe my class has started so I think if you want to pass, you should follow my lesson."

"A-Ah yes, I apologize, sir." The blond muttered after a few chuckled coming from the class.

Feeling his nerves fire up, Roxas remained quiet for most of the lesson. Periodically, he would sneak a glance at Sora and noticed that he seemed to be distracted. Even when the rebel focused on him for long moments, he paid no attention to him. Most times the responses were just angry stares, growls, or tiny insults. But for today, he had gotten no such thing. If the blond had to be truthful of his behavior, he would have said it was concerning.

But Roxas being himself, he took advantage of his partner's subdued state. He carefully ripped a piece of paper and wrote a small note on it before folding it up and sliding it over to the brunet. Fair looked at it as it sat by the edge of his desk, at the same time he eyed the blond. Roxas couldn't help the shiver of anxiousness that came over him.

_What is wrong with me? I shouldn't be getting this nervous. I was having a good day just hours ago and now that he's barely be responding to me, I can't keep my composure?_

Sora finally decided to pick it up, his tanned fingers running through the paper for so long that the blond prince started to get a little tired of his bored expression as he studied it. He unfolded it and looked on in slight puzzlement until Roxas noticed the slight flush on his cheeks. It wasn't the response that he was looking for.

_Guess it's not just me. I wonder what's bothering him too._

But then Sora had on an immediate scowl and crushed the paper in his hand a split second later.

_Nevermind, I guess he's fine._

The rest of class had gone like how it started until the last few minutes. While Roxas had been preoccupied trying to divert Sora's attention to himself, he was thankful that at the end Mr. Linke took the liberty to repeat the night's assignment.

"Okay students, remember to complete half of the packet tonight. I know the pages involve a lot of problems, but this would be a good time to utilize getting help from your _partners_ to get the work done faster. I highly advise this for all of you. Work diligently tonight along with all other assignments."

Roxas was never so glad that he had chosen to pay attention to his instructor. With an idea in mind, hoping that it would work in his favor in the midst of his 'good day', the blond turned to the other prince beside him.

"No." Sora said, immediately moving away to pack his things.

"You didn't even give me the chance to say anything." He pouted, sounding hurt.

"I don't plan on doing anything with you tonight. Not even this, so, no."

"Well that's harsh." The rebel furrowed his brow and crossed his arms. "You heard the guy. This will be a lot of work. And knowing you, it would take you all night."

"You don't know me at all!" Sora spat back, sending him a heavy glare.

Lockhart snorted seeing that Sora had choose now to be the feisty brunet he knew he was. "And you don't seem to realize how well I do in math."

The tanned prince, for the briefest moment, looked taken aback by the rebel but he tried to play it off by avoiding his eye. Whatever it was, Roxas was going to take every advantage and opening he could to these bizarre changes of habits in the brunet. Having put all seriousness aside, Roxas fixed a focused look on Sora.

"Look, let's be frank. I perform very well in this class and you suck."

"Hey! I don't recall asking for-"

"I am willing to help you, as my _partner_ for the rest of this semester to get your grades up. By now, they are likely lacking in anything considered average. You already know I would love to tutor you, but now is the time to weigh your options. Fail or pass-"

"...Fine."

"Accept my help, or struggle. We can even go to my place after school. My 'rents will be home so you don't have to worry about-"

"I said FINE."

Roxas flinched having finally heard him. "Fine? 'Fine' as in you agree to my help, or 'Fine' to coming to my house later?"

"...Both. I agree to both." Fair said after a moment, then met Roxas' blue eyes with his own. "Since we are 'partners'."

The blond couldn't help but look at him in disbelief. Something must have altered the Rebel's reality to have Sora agree to anything he said. Granted, he was thankful to whatever powers lying in the cosmos that allowed him this privilege; he wouldn't let it go to waste. Besides, it was about time to start making his moves.

"Okay…" Roxas grinned big and stood out of his desk just when the lunch bell rang. "Okay. Great. Good. Meet me by the school fountain by the north gate after classes."

"Alright...but I have one condition."

Of course he does.

"Advances are **prohibited** while I'm with you." He said making sure to be stern of his choice and requirement.

The blond snorted. "Like you are the law?" Roxas moved to sling his bag over his shoulder. "You should know I don't keep up to those types of requirements."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

_**'You don't know the Roxas Lockhart that I know'** _

Those words keep replaying in Sora's mind for most of the day. Whenever he saw his sister, he felt like he could hear her repeat those words with the same sting on his cheek. He was able to not think about it until after his math class. To say that he was distracted by it would have been wrong; he was consumed by it. He had done a good job of eluding his friends of his troubles, but he could tell that his usual chipper mood had been jaded. At the center, the blond in question, and the reason why he was currently standing by the fountain near the front entrance of his school.

_What the hell was I thinking?!_

Sure, Sora knew that he could make some idiotic decisions, but this was the worst one yet. Never, in a million years, had the brunet thought that he would accompany his rival to his house. Naturally, he wouldn't have wanted to be caught dead with him, but circumstances and lack of sense on his part didn't provide him with the chance. But he already made the conscious choice. He was only hoping to live through it for the rest of the day.

"Sora! Just the guy I was looking for."

The brunet tried to suppress a sigh and turned to Riku as he approached. "Hey, Riku. Finished with your team meeting already?"

"Yeah. Coach just wanted to go over some ground rules before the game coming up. But...do you have any plans this afternoon?"

"Uh, well, yeah I kinda do. I have a thing to do for Algebra."

"Oh? Well why don't you come over? I can help you out and, you know, chill afterwards."

Sora begrudgingly shook his head. "Sorry, Ri, I can't. I have to do this with... my partner."

"Partner? That's good, but you don't seem jazzed about it though." Riku displayed his concern. "What? Got paired with a rebel?" He grinned jokingly.

"Um...yeah. And I'm meeting him to head over his place." The brunet rubbed the back of his neck nervously. By now he knew that Riku could see that this wasn't something he wanted to talk about at the given moment, but the silvert wasn't one to let things go easily. Secretly, Fair hoped that his best friend would move on as soon as possible before Lockhart shown up.

"Really? Well who's the lucky guy that gets to torture my Sora instead of me?" He quirked a brow, becoming interested in the topic.

"God, Riku, it's nothing. Let it go, please?"

"Well since you wanna know who it is so badly, that 'unlucky' lucky guy would be me." It was then that Roxas had appeared beside the two best friends.

Sora groaned when he felt a familiar arm wrap itself around his shoulders. He didn't have to look at Riku to know that he looked appalled.

The teal-eyed teen looked between his best friend and his nightmare. Sora knew what he was thinking, and he was likely going to aggressively demand and deny both princes to be together without him in the equation.

"No fucking way." The athlete stated after the long pause. "Sora, you are not going home with him." Riku grabbed his friend's forearm to have him at his side and away from the blond.

"W-Wait, hold on!"

"Yeah," The rebel's hand shot out and grabbed Fair's wrist. "Hold on, Riku. Why don't you settle down a bit before you dictate things?" He challenged. "Sora _is_ going home with me."

"As if. My Sora isn't that stupid to go with you. Even if he was, he wouldn't go anywhere with you without me to watch your lousy ass." Riku bit back glaring down at the rebel.

"Aren't you as charming as ever." Roxas purred, not affected by the subordinate's words. The comment only annoyed the taller further. "But this is fact. Your blue-eyed beauty is coming with me, and he _agreed_ to it."

"Bullshit. Even if Sora was paired to you, he wouldn't stoop so low to actually-"

"Riku," Sora spoke up between the two's tension-filled exchange. He had to put a stop to it, and he pried Riku's fingers from his arm and Roxas' around his wrist then stood between the two. "I did agree to this. I didn't want to tell you because I knew you would get like this. It's just a math assignment and I only have to do this with him, nothing else." He hoped that his friend would be willing to listen, but this was Riku he was talking about. His responses were sometimes unpredictable.

"You say that Sora, but how can _I_ trust him? How can you trust whatever he says? He can't even keep promises."

"Yes, Riku, I know, but this is my choice okay." The brunet was starting to get slightly annoyed.

"Just to remind you guys, I'm right here you know..." Roxas shifted, feeling a bit awkward at the two friend's rising tension. They ignored him.

"Listen, you can stop coddling me. I'll be fine. His parents will be home anyway and you know I wouldn't let him go far. I'm not that defenseless. Chill." The Royal prince crossed his arms, face stern and defending his decision despite regretting to have made it. It was already too late to back down now.

The jock eyed his friend, then the blond, and then back. "Whatever." He shrugged his bag. "Call me if anything happens."

"Yeah."

Fair allowed him to go, making a point to roughly bump Roxas on the shoulder as he walked away. Sora exhaled an aggravated sigh, rubbing at his eyes with exhaustion. The blond had waited a moment or two, side-eyeing the lingering passer-byers that witnessed what happened. He tried to wait until Sora seemed ready to go, but he grew impatient and nudged him to follow.

"My house is a bit of a walk. I would have asked my dad to get us but he might be working."

Sora said nothing but yielded and followed behind the Rebel making sure to put some distance.

They silently left the northern gates without any other confrontation. They received some curious looks, which was understandable since both princes never left the school grounds together. For most, it would be a peculiar sight.

But whilst departing, the Royal prince noted the familiar tingling at the back of his neck. He halted and turned, seeing the recognizable tall redhead leaning against an oak tree. Fair tried to even his stare, but it wasn't long before the brunet had to rejoin his blond escort with frayed nerves.

Never had that redhead looked at him with such contempt; his electric, green eyes heavy with dark judgement.

Sora continued to follow Roxas through many blocks. None of them had spoken since they left the school, nor did they seem inclined to. The Royal preferred it, but observed the area as they passed by.

For the most part, their school was part of a decently sized town outside the city. Half of the students living in the city and the other in the suburbs. Most of the others that Sora knew lived in the same neighborhood as himself, so he had guessed that Lockhart had lived in the city since he never saw him lurking around his home. Even though that would be going a bit far if he did since he did know thanks to his sister. But Fair found that they were heading someplace different.

As they moved along, the prince noticed houses that were significantly smaller than he was used to. He was accustomed to seeing multiple storied houses, but the houses he was seeing were primarily one story. Another thing that stuck out was the amount of greenery that decorated the neighborhood. There were more trees and bushes that embellished the area compared to his home. Every house they passed was unique, some done in different colors and styles and not cookie-cutter and uniform. He knew he shouldn't be in awe that such a place existed outside the orderly homes he grew up in, but the number one thing that made it such a huge difference was how noisy it was.

Sora hadn't seen so many people in such a small looking place, especially kids. More than once had the brunet almost ran into a child that had been playing with their group of friends. He also saw a bit of parents and elderly sitting on their porches and front lawn supervising or watching the day roll by. He was almost shocked to see other students in his school ride bikes or jog by. The prince later realized that it wasn't him being shocked of seeing so many people, it was all the amount of activity.

It was certainly more than what Sora was used to. He honestly found it a bit 'quaint'.

Sora followed along through the new suburb until he found himself stopping in front of a dull turtle-green house. It was two stories high, but it still looked small from the outside. The lawn was well kept and smelled like freshly cut grass, and small bushes decorated the side and front of the house aside from the partially opened garage door. Overall, the house was simple and neat.

"I swear, Leon needs to stop leaving that god damn garage door open." Roxas' sudden words snapped Sora out of his train of thought and watched him approach the ajar door and pull it up to clear his height. "Aren't you coming?"

Sora said nothing but followed him up his driveway.

_'So he lives here…'_ He entered the garage and immediately noticed a sleek, black motorcycle standing beside a patrol car. "Are these your father's?" He questioned, not meaning to ask but the inquiry had already forced itself before he could stop it.

"Huh?" Roxas turned after shutting the garage door and looked at the vehicles in question. "Oh, depends on which one you're talking about."

"Which...one?" Sora was puzzled at the notion. Roxas grinned.

"You'll figure it out soon. For now, welcome to my sweet, sweet abode."

"Uh, thanks." The prince eyed the room a moment more then accompanied Roxas to the door leading in.

"I'm home, and I brought home a stray!"

_"Excuse me?"_ Sora frowned deeply stepping in behind him. They stepped into what looked to be the foyer and the door to the front entrance. There was a coat rack close to the garage that held a police jacket and black helmet and a few sets of keys. He also noticed a small dog leash.

_'So he has a dog as well'_

"Roxas, I swear to god if you bring home another rabies infested creature, you're sleeping outside tonight."

The new voice Sora heard startled him somewhat. He immediately assumed that whoever that was must have been his father, and he sounded to be the type of person that was strict. A personality befitting the vehicles outside that still occupied his thoughts.

"Come on, _Squall_ , this one is **cute** this time. I'm sure you'll love him."

"Lockhart…" Sora warned, a small blush creeping on his cheeks. Though the blond seemed to have ignored him, but he raised a brow at the new name.

"Stop the formalities; you're in my home." Roxas waved him off. "And legally, you can't do that to me… _Squall_ "

"Watch me, **boy.** "

Roxas visibly rolled his eyes and beckoned Sora to follow him after taking their shoes off at the door. As they walked through, Sora noted the many picture frames that hung on the walls. Most of them were of a young blond male that had a shockingly close resemblance to Lockhart. Another of a dark-haired man with a scar going across his nose diagonally. He carried a serious expression unlike the blond male that seemed to be smiling in all pictures. There were some of them together, some apart, and Fair assumed that there might have been more photos if he dared to venture the house. None of them, however, containing Roxas.

They continued down the hall that eventually opened into two rooms. The one on his left was the dining room. It was A fair-sized room with a somewhat large dining table that could accommodate six people. Each chair had its own set of ready-to-use plates, glasses, and utensils with a decorative centerpiece. Beside the dining room was the kitchen, seeming to be half the size. Combined, both rooms would have equaled the size of his own, just by a fraction.

The Royal caught a whiff of something cooking. It was likely they just had arrived when dinner was made. The acknowledgment immediately made him realize that he was a bit hungry, but also brought him bitter nostalgia.

"Roxas, what did you bring home?"

"It's not a what, it's a _who_. Geez guys, you suck at first impressions." The Rebel prince brought them to the living room where Sora finally met the people in the photos. They seemed to be have been comfortably watching the television before they walked in.

"Who is this?" The dark-haired man questioned. Sora could hear the suspicion and judgment in his rough voice. He sounded as intimidating as he looked. "Rox, he better not be one of your 'play-things'."

"Leon, _rude_." The younger blond frowned and Sora flushed. He didn't want to know what he exactly meant by that.

"Now, Leon, this is Roxas' guest. Treat him as such." The other man got up from the couch and greeted Sora with a hand and kind smile. "I'm Cloud. Cloud Strife. That grouchy grizzly bear over there is Leon-"

"Hey!"

"Don't mind him. And you are?"

"Sora. Sora Fair. I go to the same school as Lo-... I mean, Roxas." He returned the gesture with an equally pleasant smile and shook hands. "Are you, by chance, related to Roxas? You too look very alike."

The prince thought it was an innocent question; however, the response he received was a snort from Leon and Cloud and a chuckle from Lockhart. Sora was obviously missing the picture. He looked at everyone, raked with confusion

"Did I say something wrong?"

"Oh no, you see, I get that a lot but I won't deny that we blonds look similar. Though most think I'm this tyke's older brother-"

"He wishes he was." Roxas interrupted.

"But in _reality_ ," Cloud paused and grabbed the unsuspecting teen into a headlock. "I am his guardian. Or should I say, his 'dad'."

The Royal watched the two in bemusement, seeing Roxas struggle beneath Cloud and Leon looking on as if it were a normal occurrence. Roxas demanded to be let go, but the other relented on doing so. For a second, he had thought they had forgotten about him being there. Eventually, Roxas escaped with even messier hair and pink cheeks.

"Not cool Cloud." He grumbled grabbing his bag that had fallen since the struggle and made to leave the room. "Come on, Sora. We've got things to do."

"Oh no you don't!" Leon barked startling Sora once more. "Radar left a big fat present for you in the yard. Clean it up." He ordered getting up to pass the teens into the kitchen.

"What?! And you wait until I got home to take care of that? He's your dog!" The peeved blond retorted.

"My dog who lives in the house, same as you, blows my money by eating so much food, just like you, and tasks me with the responsibility of nurturing due to assignment, like you. You share the responsibility. You clean the poop."

"I _swear_ to **God** , Squall..."

"What did I tell you about calling me that?"

The exchange between the two couldn't stop Sora from letting go a small laugh which he immediately covered up but had Cloud chuckling in response. Fair watched Roxas stomp off elsewhere but found himself at a loss of what to do next since his host left his company.

"Um…" Sora shifted awkwardly, clutching his bag over his shoulder not sure of what to do.

"Those two are so much alike. Roxas will take a few moments so you can follow me. I'll take you to his room."

"Oh, uh. Thank you."

The Royal quietly followed behind Cloud as he guided him through the hall and occasionally stopping to point where things were if Sora needed anything.

"So," Strife began as he climbed up the stairs. "You must be the 'Sora' that my Rox often talks about."

"He talks about me?" The brunet questioned, quickly becoming anxious.

"No bad things, I promise you." He smiled. "He speaks highly of you. It's very adorable."

"Does he now…?" He could feel himself blushing. He never thought Lockhart would ever talk about him at home and so openly. But he should have guessed that he would have with his family that seems to be as open as he was. Sora wasn't sure if he should feel flattered or surprised. And all he had done was talk negatively about him.

"-though I think you'll grow to like him."

"Excuse me, what? Sorry I wasn't paying attention."

"You weren't listening? It's okay. Forget I said anything. This is his room and you should feel lucky today. He actually cleaned it this week." Cloud laughed and opened the door allowing the prince in. "I'll be back with some snacks for you guys. It looks like you guys have an assignment to do, am I correct?" Sora nodded. "Well make yourself at home. Yell if you need anything. But not too loud or else Leon will think someone is dying." He joked and turned to leave.

"Um, hold on please." Sora instinctively shot his hand out to stop the taller but blushed when he did so quickly retracting his hand. "Q-Quick question. Are those vehicles in your garage yours?" It was a silly question. Sora didn't know if he asked out of not wanting to be alone, but it was a question that the rebel failed to answer.

"Vehicles? Oh, the motorcycle is mine. My pride and joy, Fenrir. The car is Leon's. He's an officer. Radar, our dog, is his German shepherd in training, but it seems that Roxas is actually training the pup for him."

"Oh really?" Sora's mind wandered in thought into the previous conversation he had with Lockhart.

_'Are these your father's?'_

_'Huh? Oh depends on which one you're talking about.'_

_**Oh…** _

"By the look on your face, I'm guessing I've answered another question of yours." Sora's eyes flicked up to see the knowing look in Cloud eyes. He looked away blushing.

"I-I don't see anything wrong with it."

Cloud smiled despite the brunet's attempt to show nonjudgment. "Don't worry. Leon and I have gone through a lot to even bother caring what other's think of us. But that's sweet of you." The Royal looked upon him again feeling somewhat silly from his nervousness.

"But I should really leave you guys to your devices. Roxas wouldn't appreciate me 'cracking up his style'." The older blond air-quoted.

"Well, thanks again."

"Don't mention it."

Sora glanced into Roxas' room with uncertainty then back at Cloud as he left beyond the stairs, not sure of what to do first. The Royal never thought that he could see himself being in the home of his rival, much less his room. There wasn't much to deduce from that, however. It wasn't as if there was some sort of hidden terror waiting for him the minute he walked in. Although he also knew it was just his nerves getting to him, he couldn't help but feel strange walking into the room of the person he despised for years.

The room was clean, like Cloud had said, and not very big, just enough room for one person, or two. The carpet was a classic shade of beige and well-kept. The wall was littered with posters from bands and singers unrecognizable to the prince. A long twin-sized bed laid on the far side of the room with a desk and a shelf attached lined with what looked to be CDs from multiple artists. Sora never knew Roxas as a music fanatic, but seeing the stacks of albums and signed posters overwhelmed him a bit. He finally stepped in, seeing a simple dresser and closed closet off the side, nothing more. Overall, Sora could see that Roxas had a fairly 'normal' room. He guessed he was a bit disappointed, but at the same time surprised at his simplicity.

Placing his bag down next the foot of his desk, Sora caught something off the corner of his eye. He noticed it on Roxas' desk, a small oval-shaped rock. He hesitated for a moment before picking it up, turning it over in his hand feeling its slightly rough surface. He couldn't quite place it, but Sora could see something familiar about it. At first, he thought it was a normal rock and wondered why Roxas would keep such an ordinary thing in his possession, but when he examined it closer, he noticed the slightly fading engravings on one side. It read 'Sorah' in rigid, childish lettering.

"No, Radar, go back downstairs. I can't play with you now."

Sora almost leapt out of his skin when he heard Roxas' voice approach. He hastily placed the rock down on his desk and smoothed his clothes. He already felt stupid for snooping around the blond's things, and he didn't want to embarrass himself further by getting caught.

"Radar, no!"

A small black and brown spotted pup came into view and it immediately noticed the brunet in the room. The young pup cried an attempt at a howl and bounded over to Sora yapping at his feet. The cinnamon-haired prince couldn't disagree that the puppy was adorable. He knelt down and greeted the small dog and received small kisses as a welcome.

"Sorry about him." Roxas walked in his room and smiled apologetically. "You would think that a police dog wouldn't be so friendly with strangers."

Sora resisted to urge to smile. "Maybe you need to train your dog better."

"You mean my dad needs to train his dog. Not me. I swear that man is going to be the death of me." The blond grumbled. For a moment Sora took his eyes off the panting puppy and watched Roxas take off his shoes followed by his shirt. He tensed.

"What are you doing?" He demanded.

"What?" The blond furrowed his brows and balled up his shirt before throwing it in his laundry bin. "Never seen another guy shirtless before? I thought I was allowed to be comfortable in my own home." He grinned going through his dresser and picking a plain white shirt to pull over.

Fair tried to hide his blush by focusing on the puppy on his lap. So far today he had been feeling more stupid than rational. "O-Of course I have. Just a little warning next time would be nice."

"Good thing you said it now. My pants were next." Lockhart chuckled. "Joking." He quickly added when Sora shot him a glare. "Anyway, we should get started." The blond moved a few things around and cleared his desk before moving beside Sora.

"I would have offered my bed for you to work on but I don't think that idea would be comfortable for you. So instead, you can start working on my desk." Sora nodded and almost fumbled when the rebel unexpectedly bent down and scooped Radar from his lap. "This runt and I will chill here. That's alright with you?"

"Yeah, sure."

Both boys unpacked their things and got comfortable, silently working on their assignments. Cloud returned like he promised with snacks in hand, then left them alone once again. There wasn't much conversation between the two. Sora mostly kept silent except for the occasional questions of problems, and Roxas jotting his answers, nodding his head to the music plugged into his ears from his phone. But for the majority of the time, the brunet's mind wandered as he stared at his work.

This was nothing like he had been expecting. In the span of what felt like half an hour, Sora had come to know more about his counterpart than he'd wished. His life was not as lavish as his. He lived in an honest home, fathered by a homoseuxal couple, cared for a sweet dog, and just seemed to be living a good life. Even for the short time that he had met his parents, he could see the love they had for him. Even if he glanced at Roxas now; seeing him leaned back on his headboard, work sitting on his lap, and a sleeping puppy by his feet. Everything seemed well established for Lockhart. Totally different than what he expected, different from what he wanted to see.

He never would have thought that jealousy would rear its ugly head here.

He briefly looked at the rock still sitting at the corner of the desk. As he stared at it, he knew why it was familiar and what it meant to Roxas long ago. The image of smaller versions of themselves played in his mind.

_"Hey! Give it back!" Six-year-old Roxas lunged up, trying to retrieve his rock._

_"Why? It's just a dumb rock. Why are you even playing with it? It's kinda weird."_

_"I wasn't! Now give it back!"_

_Sora had been chatting with a few of his friends on the playground when he heard the small blond yell. The look of frustration on his face and glaring at their school's well-known bully, Seifer, picking on the boy like always. The brunet, not once intimidated of the fourth-grader, came up behind him and snatched it from his fingers._

_"Stop picking on my friends, Sei." The young brunet frowned and walked over to Roxas handing him the oval rock._

_"Che, don't talk like we're friends Fair because we're not." The older blond snarled walking off. Sora stuck his tongue at him as he walked away and turned to smile at his friend._

_"You okay, Rox?"_

_"Uh, yeah. Thanks." Roxas blushed, staring at the oval thing in his hands. "Here." He thrust his hand out, almost hitting Sora on the chest as he did so. "I made this…"_

_"Ah! Uh… thank you?" He took it and looked at Roxas awkwardly before taking a closer look. He could see that Roxas had written something on it. Not sure of how he did it, he managed to carve his name into it, but it was misspelled as 'Sorah'. He laughed._

_"W-What? I-Is there something wrong with it?" Roxas got redder, not meeting his best friend in the eye._

_"Ha, yeah you dummy! You spelled my name wrong! I don't have an 'H' in my name. It's Sora. S-O-R-A. Got it?"_

_"W-Well...s-sorry. I thought it was right in my head. I'll make you another one if you don't want it." He sounded dejected, but Sora didn't want any of that._

_"No, don't." He took Roxas' hand and blinked when he felt how rough they were, but he didn't think much of it. "You can give it back to me when you fix it. And remember, no 'H'!" Sora giggled. Roxas smiled sheepishly later joining him._

But after that, Roxas never gave it back to him. He didn't know if it was because he wasn't inclined to anymore or from the numbers of many events that followed afterward. With everything they went through, he still kept it. Not in a place locked away to be forgotten, just out in the open for him to see. Possibly, for Sora to see. Seeing it again after so many years, the unsure brunet could feel old memories arise that were once between the two. A tight knot formed in his throat and he tentatively touched the crowned necklace around his neck.

"Stuck on a question?"

The Royal's head snapped up from his paper. He realized he had spaced out in thought again. He looked at Roxas who had been doing the same to him. One of his earbuds pulled out and regarding him in slight confusion.

"I, uh, yeah. Kinda."

"Let me guess...question twenty-six? You've been staring at it for a while."

"Oh...I didn't realize." The Royal snorted, running his hand through his spikes. It was kind of funny to him. The whole situation was.

"What?"

"They're nice." Sora now stated, changing the subject.

"...Excuse me?" Roxas quirked a brow.

"Your family. They're nice."

Lockhart looked to him more puzzled from his comment "Thank you? Seriously though, what's been going on in your head? You've haven't said much and usually you have a lot to say considering that I don't have to say anything for you to spit insults at me. You're too 'somber' for my taste right now."

Fair was thoughtful for a moment then stared into eyes identical to his own. They stayed like that for a moment, silently looking upon each other that they could hear the TV playing in the floor beneath them.

"Xion told me something a while back," Sora began breaking the silence. "It made me realize something. Lockhart, may I ask, _who_ are **you**?"

If the brunet had confused Roxas enough, he exceeded in leaving him completely floored. "Are you kidding me, Sora?" He gave him a fixed look. "Who do you _think_ I am? By your definition, I am some sort of low life that has nothing better to do but mess with others. You probably adapted more rumors from your silver-headed dog and that two-faced bitch girlfriend of yours."

Now Sora glared at him. "Okay stop. I didn't mean it like that."

"Well what did you mean?!" Roxas frowned at him becoming irate with his strange behavior. "You start acting weird and you expect me to take it like nothing is wrong? On top of that, suddenly define myself to you? Seriously, Sora, what is going through your head? You are honestly starting to annoy me with this bullshit."

Sora blinked at Roxas and later started chuckling. All this was becoming so ironic to him that it kinda started to scare him.

"Fair, you're freaking me out."

"You are talking about freaked out?" Sora rolled his eyes smiling. He swiveled in his chair so he could completely face him. "I'm the one freaking out. Everything that I thought was normal -true- is not. I mean honestly, what is the first thing you think about when you look at me?"

"That you're an extremely appealing brunet with a huge stick up his ass."

"I will ignore that comment and rephrase it in the means of a rhetorical question." Sora scowled but didn't bother hiding the blush on his cheeks.

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Well what the hell? What do you want me to say? Your posse thinks you're some sort of god. They know you're friendly and filthy rich. There is not one person in our whole damn school who dislikes you except my people!"

"Boys? Is everything alright in there?" Both princes turned to see Cloud poking his head through the door. "I heard raised voices."

"Uh…" Roxas glanced at Sora, but he had turned back into his desk and stared down at his assignment pretending as if nothing was wrong in the first place. "It's alright, Cloud. We're fine. We just didn't agree on the answer to a question."

"I see, but argue about math a little quieter. Leon is taking a nap and you know how he gets, Rox."

"Note taken."

With that, Cloud left and the two were left alone to ponder again. Roxas was about to open his mouth to change the subject, but the other beat him to it. The next thing he said went in a direction he didn't expect.

"You've got it made." Sora began quietly. "Aside from not having a sibling, you got what I once had. It's funny really… how things turn. For one, you got a family that seems to always be there." He idly dragged his pencil on his paper making odd shapes as he talked. He wanted to stop himself, but he couldn't muster the will. Everything was slowly spilling out. "You are fostered by a lovely couple. Anyone would have said it were taboo but it worked for them, and it seems the same for you. You have a pet dog. It may not sound like a big deal, but it is since you would think someone like myself would have one as well. However, my circumstances wouldn't allow it. But you have it all, and they're here despite that. Despite what goes on beyond them maybe."

"Sora...what are you going on about? What does any of what you are saying have to do with me?" He questioned, voicing his rising concern. He didn't get his answer until a full moment later.

"I'm jealous of you, Roxas."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think! Leave a review/comments/thoughts for what you think will happen or want to happen. I am happy to hear whatever you say. They are the reason I keep going!
> 
> Until next time,  
> -R


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